What Lies Beneath
by ocdwithlhg
Summary: [Complete] Luke and Lorelai pretend to stay together to keep the diner open. "She always thought pretending would be better, but afterall, maybe letting him go would just be easier." Please RR! JAVAJUNKIE. Final chapter up! :)
1. For the Diners Sake?

**What Lies Beneath  
**_Original Idea by: _Annick  
_Written by: _ocdwithlhg (Maddy)

_Authors Note:_Hey everybody! Here is the absolute first chapter of What Lies Beneath. This story has been a long time coming. The plot was originated by Annick, I just offered to write it, yet the ideas through out the story belong to us both. Though we know this may not happen on the show, it's purposes are for pure entertainment. Anyways, here's the first chapter...we hope you enjoy it! Please review...let us know what you think! Thank's for reading!!

_Disclaimer:_ Gilmore girls belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino& The WB.

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**Chapter 1: For the Diners Sake?**

Every morning as she walks from her car to the front door of the diner, she watches him scrub the counter in the content way that he always does it. She pulls open the door and as the bells jingle above the door, he looks up and as soon as he sees her, he smiles. She plasters on a large smile and approaches him at the counter. As if there's no where else to look, everybody in the diner watches them because they are happy. And well, hey-everybody loves seeing a smiling Luke. And that's what she makes him do. Smile.

"Hey." She leans over the counter and kisses him good morning.

"Hey back." He says returning the kiss, a smile playing on the corner of his lips. He turns around and pours her a huge cup of coffee. Depending upon the mood, bickering varies. "I'll be right back." He goes into the storage room, mumbling something to himself. Occasionally he'll 'accidentally' kick a box or push a can off the shelf. Whoops. He'll come back out just as she's putting her money on the counter.

"I'm going to go now. I'll see you later?" She asks flirtatiously, battering her eyelashes.

"Yep."

She leans in and gives him another small kiss goodbye. "Bye."

"Bye, Lorelai."

Most always, she'll go to work, be in a bad mood, and yell at Michel for something he _probably_ didn't do, or at least _mean_ to do. She stops by the diner on her way home to fulfill her daily dosages on coffee and well...Luke. Then she'll go home and either vent to Rory over the phone though Rory has her own problems, or she'll just fall asleep. Early. Earlier than normal.

She wakes up and it's cold. Sometimes she's in her clothes from the night before because she actually did fall asleep early. But the first thing she notices, no matter how many layers she's wearing is that it's cold. She's cold. The option of cuddling close to him no longer stands. But just to make sure her nightmare really is reality, she hits the other side of the bed, the right side, where he used to sleep…just to double check that is. Finally, she stops the incessant buzzing that woke her up in the first place by hitting the snooze button. Cause 10 extra minutes gives her said time to forget about how lonely the morning is for her. Sadly but true, it's not just the mornings. It's afternoons, evenings, and everything in between too.

When the alarm goes off for the second time, she grudgingly gets out of bed and goes into the shower. With every passing day, the water seems to get colder. After getting ready for work, she gets in the car and drives to the diner, where her daily pattern begins, yet again. The watching, observing, smiling, kissing, talking, and all at the same time, the lying beneath it all.

That's how it goes that day, and every day. Every day for the past 3 weeks at least. Boy repetition could be a real pain in the ass.

They wouldn't be in this position in the first place, but unexpected things _do_ happen and the way they are dealing with it, is the way it's going to work. After all, it doesn't matter how they feel right? As long as the town believes the whole thing…

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It was the second week of September. Surprising how time flies, really. It'd probably only be a few more weeks till the first signs of snow but believe it or not, that wasn't on her mind. What was on her mind was the fact that the air was much thicker and colder…especially today…of all days. The leaves on the trees were starting to fall off and change colors, but it just didn't look as pretty as normal. Probably just cause everything was changing out of her control and though change can be good, that doesn't mean it always is.

She walked into the diner quietly, avoiding all eye contact possible. It was just last night thathe hadbroken up with her and here she was already in the diner less than 24 hours later. Unusual you could say. With a break up, it's hard to imagine Lorelai within 100 feet of Luke, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes, she used to avoid the diner for days after he insulted the amount of food she could consume within one sitting, so to think that now, after months of spending practically everyday together which has now ended, that she'd actually be in the diner was surprising--to say the least. But she walked in there, not happily, or even willingly, but she did and that's all that counts.

She walked up to Luke at the counter and looked at him sadly. His stare was so cold and empty that it actually hurt her to look at him. It's amazing how one day somebody could look at you with so much love and happiness and then only a few hours later, the look suddenly turns to emptiness and hate. Okay, so maybe hates a little harsh but still.

"Uh, I have to talk to you." She spoke just above a whisper.

He didn't look directly at her. "You think it can wait?" He said reaching towards the counter between the kitchen doors to get a plate of food. He slid it down to the man sitting a few seats down the counter from them. "I'm sorta busy." Truth of the matter was, it wasn't busy. There were 3 people. Some strange man intensely reading the newspaper, Kirk, and a man of around 90 who could very easily be blind or deaf. Who ever knows?

She mumbled something under her breath and looked back up at him. "Actually it's sort of important."

_I swear, if this is another, 'I'm sorry.'_ He rolled his eyes and locked eyes with her. "Go upstairs; I'll meet you up there in a few minutes. Let me just tell Caesar I'm stepping out for a minute."

She nodded her head and skeptically walked up the stairs to his apartment door. She stayed in the hall for a few moments before working up the nerve to walk in. She opened the door and hesitated before walking around the apartment before Luke made his way up there to…grace her with his oh-so-charming presence.

She walked over to the bed and lightly grazed her hand against the pillow that she used to sleep on. She had actually named it, too. Then again, she named lots of things…in his apartment and out. Immaturity...it could have those effects on you.

She walked over to the kitchen and examined the worn out looking coffee machine. Well, that's assuming that inanimate objects could look worn out. In Lorelai's eyes, it was damn well worn out.

Then she made her way to the bathroom and her eyes first went to the toothbrush holder. The first time she was actually in Luke's bathroom, she laughed that he even had a toothbrush holder. After all, _she_ didn't even have one at her house because honestly, what's the point of having a toothbrush holder that holds 4 toothbrushes when you know very well that you only have one. But she put the toothbrush holder to good use--at least she used to. She realized that her toothbrush was no longer next to his. Instantly, she opened up the cabinet above the sink and realized that none of her stuff was there anymore. She glanced around the room and saw a box under the sink with her things filled in it. _Clever…very clever, Luke._

She thought she heard footsteps coming up the stairs so she walked back to the kitchen and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. She glanced at the sink which had piles of dirty dishes sitting in it. One of the dishes she noticed in the sink was her pink coffee cup that she used just about every morning. _Unusual…Luke always does his dishes. Must have been occupied last night._ The thoughts ran through her mind.

Luke opened the door and walked to the table, taking a seat across from her. He took off his hat and adjusted his hair before placing it back on. "I only have about 10 minutes."

Lorelai swallowed hard and nodded her head with understanding. "Oh okay…so, sleep okay?"

"Slept fine." He said dryly.

"Really?" She said trying not to sound too surprised because God knows she got probably 10 minutes of sleep last night. "That's good. I hardly got any sleep and I only had one cup of coffee this morning and--"

"Lorelai…what's this about?" He asked referring to the conversation he knew they were _supposed_ to be having.

She hesitated before opening her mouth again. "The town, Luke." She said simply.

He looked confused. "What about the town?"

"What are they going to do?"

Confused again. How very unordinary. "About?"

"About us breaking up."

_Of all things to possibly be thinking about._ He thought. "I don't know and truthfully, I really don't care."

"Luke…you said you'd close the diner. And Taylor's selectman again…"

"Ah, jeez…well…"

"Damn democracy…I'm telling you." Maybe joking would lighten up the mood again.

Or maybe it wouldn't. He didn't seem too thrilled by her lame attempt of a joke.

"And…" she began, "Taylor's a man of word. Or, in this case your word."

"Well, looks like I've gotta close up." Gosh he makes it sound so simple.

"No." She said quicker than intended.

"No?"

"You don't have to close up." A moment of silence chimed in. "I've got an idea."

Never encouraging words coming from her mouth. Last time she had 'an idea' she thought it would be cute for them to climb out her bedroom window during one of the Friday Night Dinners he accompanied her at.

"What?" He asked.

"Well, they don't have to know."

"Know what?"

"That we broke up."

"I think it'll be sort of obvious, Lorelai."

"Not if we pretend we're still dating."

_What in the…_"Lorelai, just wait-" Before this gets even stupider, he thought.

"Just, listen. You know if they find out, Taylor will bring the 'issue' up. In fact, I can almost guarantee that he'd hold a town meeting, in your honor for us all to say our farewells." She paused. "Tell me I'm right."

He took the moment to remain silent. She just rolled her eyes and continued.

"And Luke…" Her voice suddenly got quieter. "I'm not going to lie. I don't want you to leave. I don't want any of this stuff to have happened with us. But…it did, and…I just don't want everything to change and well…leave." So that's part of the whole scheme, huh? Holding on to things that were most certainly not hers anymore.

"But maybe with…" He gestured his hands back and forth between the two of them, "…it would just be easier that way."

Unconvinced that things would actually be easier; she just lied her way through it. "Maybe. But…"

"Listen. If I could afford leaving, I would consider it, but I can't. I just don't know how good of an idea your 'pretending' thing will go. Not to mention, I don't like playing games."

"I know you practically made me cry when you wouldn't play twister with me." He just made a face. "Listen, if they think everything's okay with us, then they won't suspect. If they don't suspect, then they won't ask, and if they don't ask, we don't have to answer."

He thought everything over in his head. "So, you're saying we act like a couple to keep the diner open."

"Yes."

"I don't know. That's stupid. Lorelai, we just broke up. And it wasn't because you drink too much coffee. We broke up cause--well, it was big, that's all. I don't know if I'm up to acting right about now."

"Fine." She said getting up to leave. "I just thought it'd help you in the long run." She said with her back turned to him. She stopped before opening the door and turned around to face him. "And who knows…maybe even with you and me."

She began opening the door, looking back one last time to see if he'd reconsider. They locked eyes and he began to get up, going to the sink and starting washing the dishes.

"See you around, Luke." She said before closing the door.

"Yeah, see you around…"

**A Few Hours Later…**

"Mom, we're going to be late."

"Your point?"

"Taylor hates when we're late."

"Taylor hates everything I do."

"Exactly. And one of those things is being late for town meetings."

"Sweetie, nobody said good punctuality was a must. Now, go in before Daddy yells at us."

The girls opened the doors to the dance studio and scanned the room for 2 open seats. The only seats open were in the back-which drove Lorelai nuts-and next to Luke. Lorelai sat next to him, as Rory settled in the seat beside Lorelai.

"Hi." Lorelai said quietly to Luke while sitting down.

"You're late."

"So?"

"Taylor hates when you're late."

"Has that ever stopped me bef--"

Taylor hit the gravel against the podium. "Lorelai, first you come in late, which you know I hate, and then you insist on interrupting us."

"Oh no Taylor, I don't insist…"

"It's a must with her." Luke butted in.

"Well, now that I'm town select man again," he said glancing towards Jackson's direction, "I'm going to put things in order. And first thing is, no talking during the meetings unless given permission by theleader of the meeting, which, in this case…happens to be me. Now Lorelai, do you have permission to be talking?"

Rory laughed and patted her mom's leg sympathetically. "No Taylor, I don't." She said with a serious face, trying to hold back the laughter.

"Alright then. Problem solved. But while we _are_ talking right now, I guess this would be a perfect time to bring up you and Luke's…relationship. I'm guessing everything's still okay, right? I haven't seen any life or death drops in the economy surrounding the two establishments. So…things are good, right?"

Lorelai turned to Luke and smiled, patting him on the leg slightly. "The economy aint suffering a bit, Taylor." Well, it's the truth right? Probably…And it's not like she made it clear they were still dating. All she did was say it's not suffering. But ideas and schemes like that confuse Taylor, and the rest of the insane town…

"Aren't the adorable?" Babette called out.

…They still thought they were dating.

For the rest of the meeting, Lorelai focused on talking to Rory, purposely trying to annoy Taylor. She'd steal a few glances at Luke, who at this point looked like he was about to pass out from being so bored. Little did she know, he was thinking about the crazy idea that Lorelai mentioned earlier that day in his apartment. The whole, 'pretending' shin-dig. It's not like the economy actually _is_ suffering, is it? But unfortunately, if Taylor _did_ find out they had broken up, he'd still insist that Luke gave in to his side of the deal and leave. Because risks with the economy sure aren't worth taking, are they Taylor? Nope.

As the meeting ended, the girls walked out of the studio. Rory saw Lane across the street and told Lorelai she'd be back in a few minutes. Lorelai noticed Luke walking back towards the diner so she quickly walked up to him and hit him playfully on the arm.

"I told ya so."

"What?" He said gruffly, obviously still upset about the breakup. After all, it's not like he _wanted_ to do it.

"Taylor's going to butt in."

"He already did his crime. It's over. It's done. Final. We're safe."

"_But_ he probably thinks were still dating. I showed no signs that we had broken up…"

"Yeah, and you showed no signs that we were together either."

"I patted your leg, dear." She said in mock-tone.

"Ah, you patted my leg. Let's bring out the relationship experts and see what they think of that."

All she did was roll her eyes. "Whatever, forget it, let them know we broke up, I don't care. I'm just going to say it one more time though; it would help you out a lot Luke. Just…for the diners sake, remember?" It was almost as if she was begging.

He stopped walking and looked down at his shoes thinking that there's got to be more to this idea than keeping it open for the diner. "Yeah, I remember."

There was silence for a few moments so Lorelai spoke up. "Alright, I see you're still not up to it. We'll let reality take its own turn."

She began walking in the opposite direction, towards Rory.

"Hey Lorelai?"

"Yeah?" She said quickly turning back to Luke.

"You'd really do this to keep the diner open?"

She nodded her head. "And to help out a friend."

He just stared at her not saying anything. "Thanks."

She bit her lip and looked at him curiously. "So…you in?"

"Yeah, I'm in."

The night of their first date flashed through her mind. When he told her that…he was all in. It brought happy memories to her mind, when things used to be good, but they quickly faded away when she realized Luke was staring at her awkwardly.

"Good. I'm glad. And Luke…you know I'm s--"

"I know." He said cutting her off.

"Bye Luke."

"Yeah, bye."

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Ever since then, that's how things went…acting as if they were a couple. There was no talk about conditions, about do's and don'ts, about anything. They both figured it'd be easier that way. That way there'd be no risks of stupid questions asked, or any potential ideas or plans to make it more realistic turned down. And the truth of it all was that acting like a couple was easier because they are least had contact with each other and that's what they needed most cause still, their feelings haven't changed.

It was around 6 when Lorelai got off Wednesday night. Work had been overpowering her, with it being the center of her life, and all. She got in the car and immediately took her shoes off, adjusting herself for the quick drive to the diner to 'pretend' to be with Luke. It was a crazy idea, really. But, it was working. Never were there questions asked within their distance. Over time, Lorelai admitted to herself that just about 99 sure that the reason she came up with the idea in the first place was because she knew it was her last chance & way to hold on to Luke without actually claiming him as hers. And Luke wasn't stupid. He knew very well her idea was because of them, staying together. Part of the reason he figured that out was because that was exactly how he felt too. Funny how similar they think.

It's not like either of them _wanted_ to break up. Nothing lasts forever though. Not even this pretending game, but for the meantime it was working, saving the diner by a leap and that's all that matters. Sort of.

As she walked into the diner, she scanned the room and noticed only a few people were scattered through out the place eating and talking. He walked out of the kitchen as she walked in and smiled while she approached him. She returned the smile, sat at the counter and threw her head down, sighing loudly.

"So…tired…must…have…coffee…now."

Without resistance, he poured her a cup. "Here ya go." He said, settling in down in front of her.

"Thanks." She said, taking a sip. "So, how was your day?"

"Oh you know. Kirk came in. Kirk annoyed me. Kirk left. Kirk came back in. Kirk annoyed me again. And as you can see, Kirk has yet to leave for the second time."

She turned her head and watched Kirk poke his food & talk to himself. How normal.

"Got it." She said nodding her head.

"And yours?" He asked.

"Michel bothered me. Michel yelled at me. Michel broke the computer…again. Michel broke the stool…again. And most importantly, Michel broke Drake." She frowned.

He picked up his towel and started scrubbing the counter. "Who the hell is Drake?"

"Uhm, hello. Drake the Dragonfly. Only the best mascot we've ever, and will ever have."

Like he was supposed to know…"Oh, gotcha."

"His funeral's tomorrow."

"Heart breaking." He said sarcastically.

"It really is. Hey can you throw this in a to-go cup for me? I've gotta run."

"Yeah sure."

He took her cup and tossed it in the back, filling a to-go cup with fresh, new coffee. He placed the lid on it and handed it to her. She took a few dollars out of her purse and placed it on the counter.

"See you later?"

"Yeah."

She leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. He sighed as he watched her walk out the door and went back to cleaning the counter.

As she walked outside, her eyes averted down to the sidewalk taking in every step she made. 'Pretending…huh?' She thought to herself. 'Harder than it looks.' She rolled her eyes and got into the car, a frown appearing across her face.

"Harder than it looks." She said out loud. "Maybe things would have just been easier…"

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"…look sweets, it's no big deal." Lorelai said nonchalantly, flipping through a magazine.

"What do you mean it's no big deal mom?" Rory asked, obviously confused by her mothers reaction to such a thing. "Things were good with you two, you had it working, you were happy…"

"Look Rory, yesterday I had a boyfriend before, today I don't. Remember when you broke up with Dean the first time? I think that's _exactly_ what you said." She said, thinking about the incident. "Actually, you might have said I don't have a boyfriend anymore, that's all. Or something similar to that but I'm not su--"

Her attempt to change the subject failed. "Mom, I just…I don't understand."

"Aw, that's too bad…"

"So then _make_ me understand."

"Rory," she took on a strict tone, "there's nothing to understand. If you can't understand that 'it's over', then, I guess you're not that brilliant Yale chick I thought you were."

She just rolled her eyes. "Mom?"

"What now Rory?"

"Wallow."

"What?"

"Wallow. Tonight. You've got nothing else planned."

"Not true!" She said, pointing to an ad in the magazine. "I've got to, uh, go buy these shoes. Want me to see if they have them in your size too?"

Rory glanced over at the ad. "To summer-y."

"Well, that's too bad because they really are cu--"

"Mom, just wallow."

"Rory, I'm not going to wallow, alright? I don't need too. E.O.S."

"What?"

"End. Of. Story."

_Stubborn, stubborn, woman she is._

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When she walked in the house, she checked the messages to see if there were any 'important' things she needed to take care of.

Lorelai pressed play and sat in the chair beside the desk.

"It's Lorelai. I'm lazy; you're annoying, talk, and maybe I'll listen. Beep."

"I swear to God Lorelai, you change that damn thing every day. So you're obviously less lazy than you think, which then again, proves you're a drama queen, but we'll talk about that later. I need you to call me because I've got important things to discuss with you. You know my friend Rose, right? Well her husband passed away not to long ago and I invited her for dinner on Friday. Therefore I wanted to confirm the fo--"

_Beep!_ The answering machine cut her off, leaving Lorelai in laughter. It had been a while since she heard her own laugh. It was almost discomforting how unfamiliar it sounded.

"Your stupid machine cut me off. So I'll make this quick. Call me back. Bye."

"Stupid, stupid, lady. Got nothing better to do than talk to a machine." Lorelai said out loud while waiting for the next message to play.

"Hey mom. I'm walking to my teacher's office to turn in a paper. It's a long walk and I'm bored, so I thought you might be around to talk. Call me, k? Love you."

As the messages came to an end, Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed Rory's cell phone.

After the fourth ring, she finally answered. "Hello?"

"Hey you."

"Oh hey mom. How are you?"

"Ya know…you?"

"I'm good. Just walking back to my dorm."

"Where's your car tonight?"

"Oh, Paris took it."

"Why didn't she take her own car?"

"Her car is making a _noise_ and she's afraid it might break down on her so she insisted on driving mine to her class tonight."

"How thoughtful of her."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So hey, pick a color. Black or dark purple."

"Black. Why?"

"I'm trying to decide was color dress to wear to the dance marathon. It's either between the short, slinky, black one, or the short, slinky, dark purple one."

"My God, the competition."

"Well, you never know. The wrong color can ruin the whole night."

"If you say so."

"So…black?"

"Black."

"So, who are you going with again?" Rory asked after a quick moment of silence.

"Josh. I already told you this."

"And now who is Josh?"

"Rory, you know who he is. You've met him _several_ times."

"Really? Refresh my memory, will ya?"

"Tight jeans, pink shirts…"

"Gay?"

"Rory…"

"I'm sorry; you're not giving me much to base my thoughts on."

"Gosh Josh."

"Oooooh." Rory said finally realizing who her mom was talking about. "The guy you went to high school with who used to wear tight jeans and pink shirts, and all the stupid, ditzy girls would call him 'Gosh Josh' cause he was 'oh-so-dreamy.'"

"You put two and two together so well my friend."

"Yale has that effect on you."

"Well, yes. Anyways that's who I'm going with. Remember I said I have seen him a few times in Hartford recently."

"Not really. All you said was you guys bumped into each other at the market."

"Yeah well about a week after that, I bumped into him at the pharmacy, and then after that at a coffee shop near your Grandparents."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, and we met up for coffee once or twice after that at the same little place."

"And you came upon asking him to the dance marathon…how?"

"Well, I was trying to find the number to the guy who used to work at Doose's a while ago. Remember, his name rhymed with Tim? He loved to dance."

"Jim?"

"No, no. That's not it. I don't know, and I saw Josh's number, and I just thought it'd be nice to ask to him since we've been having these little get togethers lately."

"Well that was very considerate of you…"

"I thought so."

"Uh, mom…"

"Yeah?"

"What is the town going to think about you and Josh going to the marathon together? I mean, wouldn't they assume that Luke would go with you, since you guys are _supposed_ to still be dating and all…"

"Luke never dances though. Why would he this time?"

"I don't know. I just thought maybe if you guys were actually dating, he would, therefore you'd have to pretend, but if you don't think he would…then, he wouldn't. I was just wondering."

"Oh, alright."

"Yeah, so anyways…"

"Hey babe listen, I've got to go call Sookie and see if she's all set for the party tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh, okay…"

"But I'll talk to you later, k babe?"

"Alright, bye mom. Love ya."

"You too, kid."

After work the next day, Lorelai went straight to the town meeting that was being held extra-early on account of Taylor's meeting later that night. As she got closer to Ms. Patty's, she noticed Luke waiting outside for her like they originally planned.

"Hey." She said, walking up to him.

"Hey. Ready to go in?"

"I'm all set."

He held the door open for her and they took two seats in the back, drawing as little attention as possible to them…as if that was possible. Murmurs ran through the studio as they settled in their seats.

"Alright, alright." Taylor said, hitting the gravel. "Okay everybody, the meeting's going to start now. As we all know, this is going to have to be quick because I've got to be in Hartford in about…oh one hour, therefore let's get things going. First things first. The annual dance marathon is this Saturday. We expect you all to be their promptly on time and ready. If you're even one minute late, well, I'm sorry but that's the end of it for you."

"Yeah, the end of it for you! You all have to be there on time, and ready to dance!" Kirk threw in.

"Enough Kirk."

"Sorry Taylor. I think I'll be quiet. After all, I've got to save my voice for all the cheering I'll be doing when I win for…what is it…the 4th or 5th year in a row?"

"You're not winning this year Kirk!" Lorelai called from the back.

"Aw yeah, Kirk. Lorelai's got Luke this year. They'll kick your butt, sweetie." Babette said.

"Uh, I'm not going to the stupid dance marathon. I never have and I never will. I don't dance." Luke said forwardly.

"So then who are you bringing, doll?" Babette asked.

"Uh, just a friend. That's all. You'll just have to wait and see when we win!"

A few whispers passed through the studio as eyes focused on Luke and Lorelai.

"So Taylor, what do you have…a good 20 minutes before you need to leave?" Lorelai asked.

And with that, all eyes averted back to Taylor.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"So, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good. I'm counting on you. 24 hours babe. You, me, and the music. It's going to be a long night."

Josh laughed. "Yeah, I'm…looking forward to it."

"Good." She smiled into the phone. "So, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning?"

"I'll be there, no doubts."

"Good. Thanks for coming with me by the way."

"It's my pleasure."

"I hope you'll still be saying that after 24 hours pass by…"

"Don't worry, I will." He said, reassuring her.

"Alright, well I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Josh."

"Night, Lorelai."

She hung up the phone, slightly smiling, and went to bed, attempting to get a good rest before waking up in only a matter of hours.

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TBC  
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Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter...and, this is a JavaJunkie fic, scouts honor. Please review! :)


	2. Losing Hope

_Authors Note:_ Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the kind feedback! We're really glad you guys like the story so far! Just to let everyone know, starting now we'll actually label the time frames for the flashbacks for those who didn't realize there were specific flashbacks in chapter 1! Sorry for any confusion we may have caused! But anyways, here's chapter 2! We hope you like & please review! Let us know what you think! Thank you!

_Disclaimer:_ Gilmore girls belongs to ASP.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Losing Hope**

When Luke used to sleep over, which was just about always, Lorelai would always wake up when he got up in the morning. There was something about her body that adapted to having someone next to her. It's funny how quickly she could adjust to sharing her bed with somebody after years and years of flying solo. So every morning, when he'd get up at 4:45, she'd get up with him. Normally just to run to the bathroom and give him a kiss goodbye, but despite the circumstances and time, she still got up.

Without Luke being there, she still got up and what's funny is it always seemed to be around 4:45. It's like there was some sort of alarm in her body that said, 'Luke is getting up now. You should too.' So, she would. She'd still go the bathroom; just now she wouldn't give somebody a kiss. Instead, she'd normally toss and turn, trying to forgot the feeling of lonesome, and eventually fall back asleep.

This morning was no different, though she did actually have to get up in the morning. It was almost 5 when she woke up and got in the shower, attempting to wake herself up, because it's not like when Luke _was _there, she'd stay up…only crazy people get up early enough for Nick at Nite to legally still be on.

It was dark outside and getting rather chilly. 'Bring the cute scarf with…got it.' She mentally reminded herself. Snow would be coming soon, but probably not soon enough. But it's nice to have something to look forward to, right?

As she got out of the shower and began getting ready, the phone rang. She answered with full energy to a sleepy Rory.

"Hello?" Lorelai answered brightly.

"Uh…"

"Hello back, I get it. How are you?"

"Tired."

"Well go back to bed. My alarm clock actually worked." Little did Rory know, she didn't actually need an alarm clock. But if she told her the whole AM Luke thing, she'd probably only be freaked out.

"I told you it would work." She mumbled into the phone. "Goodnight."

"Bye babe."

"Have fun."

"Aren't you going to wish me luck?"

"Good luck. Bye."

It took her 45 minutes to make herself look flattering…

"So, I'm glad you asked me to come to this thing with you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…I have a strange feeling this is going to be a once in a lifetime experience."

"It is at that, my friend."

"So, where are we actually going?"

"The high school…it's just a few blocks up. Hey what time is it? We can't be late and if our poor punctuality skills shine through, we won't be able to participate, then leaving two gorgeous, ready to dance, excited and pumped," she punched his shoulder, trying to wake him up, "people out of this shin-dig, which would suck. Agreed?"

"Agreed. And it's 5:45."

"Perfect. It starts in 15 minutes."

As they approached the gym within Stars Hollow High, people were spread out everywhere. A few people were stretching, a few people were sitting, a few people we're even sleeping and, a few people were drinking coffee from what looked like Luke's to-go cups.

It was then that she spotted him in the corner, looking pissed and angry. Probably because Taylor finally got him to serve coffee...for free this time.

"Hey Josh, let's go get some coffee."

As they approached the coffee stand, Luke's frown instantly turned to a smile. His smile wasn't because he was happy to see Lorelai, though, he was, or because of all times, she looked extra beautiful, which she did, or even because he was _supposed_ to smile when he saw her—well, it's not like it's a rule, but it was sort of a given, after all she used to always make him smile—The real reason he was smiling was because he was having a grand ole time imagining 20 ways to kill this goof who was with _his_ woman. Well, sure she wasn't his woman anymore, but still. He had her first, and as far as everybody else is concerned, he still had her. So, all liabilities to a death could conclude to the fact that he was messing with his girl. Perfectly reasonable. And so what if he was jealous deep down? It's not like his feelings had been completely washed away...

"Hey you." She said, smiling brightly. "Gave into Taylor, eh?"

"Yeah, well...I figured that you'd need your supply as well as many others," he said glancing around the gym, "and he wouldn't stop yapping, so why not."

She just smiled in return, helping herself to a cup of coffee.

"You look nice." He said eyeing her up and down while she wasn't looking.

She smiled playfully. "Thank you."

"So, this is your partner, huh?" He said glancing at Josh who at this point was standing behind Lorelai looking somewhat uncomfortable with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Oh yeah, sorry, Josh, this is my boyfriend Luke. Luke this is my P.I.C, Josh."

"P.I.C?" They both asked in unison.

"Partner in Crime." She said as if they were supposed to know.

"Oh my mistake, I didn't know there was harm involved in the marathon." Luke said.

"Yeah, neither did I." Josh added.

"Well, in case we don't win...which, I know we will, but—in the scenario that a small fraction of a percent alerts that we might loose…that's where the harm comes in." She said smiling viciously.

"Oh yeah?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. Knowing Kirk and Lulu, they'd be the one's up against us because who really gives a damn about winning a trophy the size of Nicaragua, besides Kirk, and well…me. So, I have my hidden tactics in handy. Ya know, the stepping on the toe act, the "Oh I'm sorry! I'm so clumsy! I didn't mean to drop my burning hot coffee on your body," act, and then there's the elbowing in the stomach routine. You know how it goes. I just figured Josh would be a good companion."

"Well, whatever the hell you're here for, it's nice to meet you." Luke said politely to Josh.

After all, he wasn't going to act jealous in front of Lorelai, regardless of whatever status they filled out.

"Yeah, you too. Lorelai's told me a lot about you."

Luke instantly became nervous and Lorelai could tell. He thought that she might have mentioned how they weren't dating and that he'd accidentally let it slip to somebody else. Lorelai took in his worried look.

"Yeah, I mentioned how we've been dating a while now." Lorelai replied, smiling sweetly. "6 months and counting..."

"Yeah, 6 months." Really it had lasted 5 months. 5 incredible months at that. He wouldn't have changed anything about those 5 months. Well, maybe he would have 'erased' most of the 5th month, _especially_ the end, but besides that, the summer was incredible.

Though Luke had been gone for most of June and part of July helping Liz and T.J. they still talked all the time and considered themselves 'together.' But from the day Luke got back in July to about November or a little before then, things had been perfect. It was everything he imagined it to be. Waking up next to her was probably the best part of his endless days with her. 'Yeah, real endless...' he thought as he watched Lorelai practically drool over some freak who he couldn't help but notice, was wearing a pink shirt.

**11 ½ HOURS LATER...**

As Lorelai began to get restless, she couldn't wait for the 30 minute break, oppose to the 10 minute breaks they usually got. This time, it was the 'half-way mark' break…for those who were still standing.

There was a special contest being held for the night's best couple where Lorelai figured she could fall asleep for a while. She knew already that it'd be something else Kirk and Lulu would win because Lulu's shockingly adorableness would beat Lorelai's sexiness just about any day. After all, she was getting older…which pretty much killed her, but Lulu still had a few years in her and after all, Taylor, the head of the whole contest favored Kirk much more than Lorelai after her supermarket scandal she pulled last week.

It was the last dance before the break. Lorelai stood up, slouched into Josh's arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, eyes closed. They had pretty much talked about everything possible for the first few hours. The past few have been silent and calm while she rested against his shoulder taking in complete peace.

Luke watched her every single minute of every passing hour. He couldn't help but get jealous when he watched Lorelai slouch into Josh's arms the way she _used _to with Luke. It brought back old memories, a sheer time when everything seemed perfect…

--

**Late August…**

They had just left Friday night dinner together. Rory couldn't make it, and now that Emily and Richard were accepting Luke for whom he was, not trying to change a thing, he had actually volunteered to accompany her. Her parents had agreed to spend the night together for a few hours so they could cut the crap and have 2 normal hours together oppose to the drink & dinner scheme.

Although they had made the agreement, it didn't mean they had to get along. They were fighting about who was going to attend Bittys upcoming party, taking part of their anger out on Lorelai when Emily said that her outfit looked like one that belonged on a cheap hooker. Well, cheap hookers sure know how to drink, don't they?

You could say she was tipsy by the time the left. Or you could be honest and say she was drunk, which, she most certainly was. Luke helped her into the car while he drove them back towards Stars Hollow. She passed out the second they pulled out of the driveway, allowing Luke full access to the radio without Lorelai mocking his taste in music.

When he pulled into her driveway close to 40 minutes later, he swung around on her side of the car, and attempted to scoop her out of her seat and bring her up to bed. But something about the feeling of being picked up while sleeping didn't coincide to Lorelai's happiness. She started to squirm, and swung her legs towards Luke's bottom half, gripping her legs onto his, but somehow, was still sitting up and sleeping in the car. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms thrown loosely over his shoulders, and her head resting on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her back and climbed up the porch to the door which luckily was as always, unlocked, because whoever would break into somebody's house in Stars Hollow?

He carried her all the way upstairs and placed her on the bed, taking her shoes off, but not bothering with the rest of her clothes. He changed out of his outfit, and got underneath the covers with her.

She practically automatically attached herself close to Luke as if he was a security blanket from everything else around her. She turned on her side so she was facing him, and mumbled in her half-drunken sleep, but somehow still managed to kiss him lightly on his neck a few times before she completely passed out. Luke smiled to himself, and gently slipped his hand under her shirt, gliding his hand over her bare side, and eventually pulling her closer to him that it was _almost_ hard to be so close to anybody else, but with her, it was the easiest thing.

--

But now, things had changed and he had to accept that because it _looked_ like she did. Though she always seemed to be a good actor…

As Taylor's horn blew throughout the gym, officially marking it the 30 minutes break, Josh shook Lorelai lightly, letting her know she could go sit down. They walked to the bleachers and sat on the bottom one.

"Well," she said, yawning, "we've made it half way though. Just a _little _bit longer."

"Yeah, only 12 more hours, no biggie." He said sarcastically, sitting next to her.

"This is bad my friend…I mean, we're only half way done and I'm already so tired."

"Went to bed late last night?"

"No, I just haven't been getting much sleep lately. I've got lots on my mind." She was silent for a second, gazing across the room at nothing in particular. "You know how it goes."

"Yeah, I do." He said turning to her and smiling. "Hey, I'm going to go run to the bathroom real quick but I'll grab you a cup of coffee on my way back."

"Alright, thanks."

Noticing that Josh had left, Luke figured now would be a good time to bring over a cup of coffee to Lorelai. He filled a cup up and walked over to her, watching her take her shoes off. He stopped in front of her and waited for her to look up.

"Oh hey." She said smiling, gazing up at him.

He handed her the cup of coffee. "Thought this might help. You uh, look a little tired out there." He said as casually as possibly, hoping she wouldn't think he's been secretly watching her for the past 12 hours.

"Yeah, I am. And it's only the half way mark."

"Yeah, well…drink up."

She took a sip of coffee as Luke sat down next to her. She folded her legs underneath her and looked down at her shoes.

"Getting comfy?" He asked, averting his eyes towards her shoes on the floor.

"Yeah, my feet kill." She said taking another sip, before turning to him. "At least this year my shoe isn't broken." She said smiling softly, locking eye contact with him for a few moments. She finally snapped out of it and looked across the gym again.

"Funny to believe that last year this time, you were fixing my shoe and we were talking about having babies with the right person."

His face blushed a little bit, and looked down. "Yeah, I remember. Funny how things change."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, very funny. So…you still want to have kids? If you can still find that person?"

"I'm starting to loose hope in finding that person."

"You'll find her."

"Well, I thought I already did, but I was obviously wrong."

She looked away and made sure to stare at her hands like they were the most interesting things ever. She felt horrible, knowing that Luke was talking directly about her.

Meanwhile, Josh was coming back from the bathroom when he went up to the coffee stand and poured a cup for Lorelai. As he walked back, he noticed that Luke was next to her as she was sipping a cup she already had.

"Hey. Sorry, I see you already got a cup."

Lorelai glanced down at the cup in her hand and looked at Josh. "Oh yeah, sorry. Luke always has been my coffee supplier, right babe?" She said patting Luke on the leg.

"Unfortunately." He mumbled.

"Oh don't deny it. You know you love my coffee addiction."

"You're right. I can hardly wait serving you the cause of your death in 5 years. I've got to admit, it's the highlight of my day."

Relieved that things had gotten more normal, she laughed and pushed Luke playfully, laughing a little. Josh observed the two very carefully. Seeing Lorelai with her boyfriend was a little upsetting because though he had only been seeing her for a few weeks now, he still overtime had developed feelings for her. The wit, beauty, charm…he couldn't ask for more. But he was stupid to think that she'd ever be available with the package that comes with her. Too be so lucky…

"People, people, people. If you could all quiet down for a second, I want to make a few announcements." Taylor said through the microphone set up at his podium in front of the gym. "First of all, congratulations to those who are still standing. You've made it this far, and well, I have just about 95 confidence none of you will make it past this next hour."

"Hey, way to encourage us Taylor!" Lorelai shouted at him.

"Oh good Lorelai, you are still here. I figured at this point you and your male company would have been out of the contest, but amazing things do happen. Whoever left the establishment of Stars Hollow in the first place is beyond me, but who am I to talk."

"Yeah really." Lorelai muttered.

"Now, as you all know, we have a contest going on. I hope all your ballots are in because at this point, it's too late to vote because here in my hand is the envelope announcing the winner of the best couple for this year's marathon. For those that were on the ballots congratulations. For the couple that wins, very best wishes to you and for those who lost, well, life will go on. There will be condolence pie being served in the west corner of the gym for those that feel sorry for themselves. Or for Lorelai who would eat pie if it were infested with rat pellets."

"Oh please Taylor." She screamed again. What was with all the Lorelai bashing?

"If you would all just stay calm for a second, I'm going to announce the winner." He said opening the envelope. "And the winner's are…"

He squinted to read the tiny writing that Patty had scribbled on a piece of paper.

"Luke and Lorelai!" He announced.

"What?" They both asked.

"You guys are our winners!"

"But I'm not even in the stupid contest!" Luke called out.

"As long as you are here, and within this gym, you _are_ indeed in the stupid contest."

"But I'm not dan--"

"No buts young man. Now walk you and your overjoyed girlfriend to the center so we can all admire you guys for the championship dance."

"You're kidding right?" Luke asked.

Lorelai on the other hand was beyond herself, smiling with joy. "And I thought I would be too old to win this stupid contest." She said grabbing Luke's hand and walking him to the center. "I've still got it all, baby!"

"I cant' believe they're making us do this."

"Well, you shouldn't complain because last time I checked you were pretty damn good at this dancing thing."

"Yeah, but that was for you to see, and you only. Not the whole insane population of Stars Hollow."

As the music stared, and they dimmed the lights once again in the gym, Lorelai took the easy route of dancing because she was still extra sleepy, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, holding her very close. She rested her cheek against his, laughing at the stubble that tickled her cheek. As he inhaled the scent of her perfume, many memories faded into the back of his mind. Times when they danced at his sisters wedding, and when Lorelai insisted that they should dance in the back when she was holding a wedding at the Inn, and how he used to smell the exact same scent when he'd hug her and not let go for a very long period of time. They were all very happy memories…

"I'm still amazed you can dance this well." She whispered into his ear, causing shivers to run through his body.

"It's nothing I'm proud of."

"Yeah, well…it's nice."

They danced in silence the rest of the song, as close as ever. It was probably even the closest they had been together since there break up. Sure they'd hug and kiss at times, but that didn't involve being pressed against each other as much as this was. She felt so secure and safe within his arms like she used to always feel before.

She closed her eyes as Luke's eyes wandered around the room. There were couples all gazing at the two of them, smiling happily. Embarrassed, his eyes settled on Josh who was sitting alone on the bleachers also watching them dance. And maybe it was just Luke but it looked like his eyes were far South on Lorelai's behalf.

When the song came to an end and the wacky crowed of Stars Hollow clapped, Babette called out to the two of them.

"Kiss the girl, Luke!"

He rolled his eyes and knew if he didn't do this, he'd probably get harassed about it for the rest of the night. He pulled away from her and kissed her softly before pulling away completely.

"Thanks for the dance mister."

"It was my pleasure."

As the marathon came close to an end, Lorelai was passed out on the bleachers leaning against Josh. They had both almost dropped down on the ground but decided to quit before Lorelai landed eagle-style on the ground which, might be funny to some, but awfully embarrassing for others. As a siren went off, both Lorelai and Josh stirred awake, looking around confused.

"Ah, damnit!" Lorelai sighed.

"What?" Josh asked looking back and forth between Lorelai and the act Kirk was putting on.

"I was _so_ confident that us passing out was all a dream. Obviously it wasn't."

He sighed and looked at her apologetically before looking back at Kirk. He was running around with Lulu--who looked like she was about to pass out--screaming and cheering for himself. When he passed Lorelai and Josh, he shouted…

"I told you so!" He pointed a finger at Lorelai. "There's no competing against me, Lorelai. Better luck next time."

As he continued running around, Lorelai looked over at Luke, completely surprised he was still there. He had gone to the diner a few times, but he was there for the end of it all, shocking to some.

"Ready to go?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, uh, hold on real quick. Stay here."

He nodded his head and watched Lorelai walk towards Luke sitting in a chair behind the coffee stand.

"Hey." She said approaching him.

"Oh hey. So, Kirk won again, huh?"

"Yeah. I swear, unless we pair up together--which is a very low chance-- I don't think I'll ever win."

"What's so great about winning this stupid thing? You get a trophy that you'll probably stick in the back of a closet anyways. All you've got is memories."

Lorelai though his words over through her head, admitting to herself that he was right. _'All you've got is memories…'_

"Yeah. Memories." She said smiling lightly, looking strictly at a cup.

"You want _another_ cup?"

"No, I'm going to go. I just wanted to say thanks for the supply."

"No problem."

"So, I'll see you later _today_ I guess."

"Go get some sleep."

"Yeah, I will. I already told Sookie I wasn't going to be in today."

"Good call. If you went in today, the chances of you passing out on the front desk are very high."

"_Very _high." She laughed, and stared at him. "Bye Luke."

"Sorry you lost. Maybe next time."

"Yes. I'll try again next time."

She stared at him for a few seconds before turning and walking back towards Josh.

"Alright, all set."

They both walked back to Lorelai's; conversation very low. When they got back to her house, he leaned against his car that he left there earlier smiling at her.

"Well, this was fun."

"Yeah, it was. Tiring, yes, but still, nonetheless, it was fun."

"I'm glad you asked me."

"Oh yeah, well. Luke wouldn't dare dance for 24 hours with me."

"Uh, 22 hours."

"Damn those last 2 hours."

He laughed. "Sorry for losing."

"You should be." She said, hitting him playfully.

"Anyways, I'm going to let you get some rest. Take it easy."

"I will. And you too. Don't fall asleep on the road."

"I'll try not to."

"Good. So, thanks for coming."

"Glad I could join you." There was an awkward silence while Lorelai gazed around trying to avoid a strange goodbye. All she wanted to do was get in the house and sleep. "Next time you're in Hartford…or you ever want to get together, give me a call. You know the number."

She nodded her head and smiled politely. "I will. Bye Josh."

"See ya Lorelai."

As he pulled out of the driveway, there was only one thing she could think of doing…sleeping.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

As Lorelai woke up, she looked at the clock and noticed it was 1 in the afternoon. It had been a while since she last got 7 hours of sleep. To tell you the truth, she couldn't think of the last time she got more than 4 hours. She took a quick shower and through on sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt. She through her hair up in a messy ponytail and put on her glasses because she was too lazy to put her contacts in. She through on the most comfortable pair of shoes she had and drove to the diner.

"Up already?" Luke asked, greeting her.

"Yeah well, 7 hours was more than enough. Did you sleep at all?"

"Yeah well, you didn't realize I wasn't there for a good 2 1/2 hours. I slept then. And I slept for about an hour when I got back but then gave Caesar a break. He's been working a lot over the past few days.

"Yeah, I've noticed. I'm glad you finally decided to fire that Ben character. I swear…how hard is it to remember pancakes, a side of bacon, 2 eggs, toast with strawberry jelly, hash browns, and a vat of coffee. Not that hard."

"I think he was just scared of you. After all, you're very small, yet somehow you eat like a pig."

"Yes well I'm a growing girl. I need my nourishments."

"I think you stopped growing a few years back."

"Probably, but I can't think of a better excuse."

"So, what'll ya have?"

"Blueberry muffin and coffee to go."

"Comin right up."

As he handed her the bag of food, she paid, said her goodbyes, and headed back home. She noticed a couple walking down the street as she drove back home. They looked so happy and so in love. They were holding hands, and the woman kept looking up at the man and smiling. It's funny…it felt so long ago that she had that happiness. Tears overwhelmed her eyes while thinking back to the moment she knew everything would be perfect…

--

**Mid-July…**

They had just finished making love. Something they did more often than other couples. 1000 words couldn't even come close to completing Lorelai's description of the process. Of course it's not all the earth-shattering 'oh's and ah's' she'd talk about, but the way that Luke could be so gentle and sweet and loving...underneath all the gruff and flannel...literally.

They were at Lorelai's. It was dark in the room besides the dull moon shining through the window. Lorelai had her head in the crook of his shoulder, and wrapped an arm over his stomach while he ran his hand back and forth over her arm, attempting to warm her up though she was already warm enough.

Lorelai tilted her head up and examined the expression on Luke's face which looked content and happy.

"Tell me what you're thinking about, Luke." She said quietly.

It took him a few moments to respond. Not because he didn't want to tell her, or because he wasn't sure what he was thinking about, but the quietness steadied out the room with a sense of complete calmness.

"Just how happy you make me." He said kissing the top of her head.

"You're so sweet."

"You asked."

"No really. I'm surprised you've kept this side of yourself away from me for so long. Like all the many other things you've kept from me."

"What else have I kept from you? Lorelai if it's about the horoscope, I said I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be mad that I never showed you. Truthfully I thought you'd think I was a stalker."

"I do."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. She could be impossible sometimes.

"I'm just kidding." She said when she heard him sigh.

"So then what else have I been keeping from you?"

"The fact that you can dance...and be so sweet...and well, that you can kiss...pretty damn well. I'm still impressed, mister." After a few moments of him not saying anything, she continued. "I'm surprised it took us this long to find each other."

"There was no need to find me. I've been here all along."

"I know, silly." She hit him playfully. "I mean, to find, each other-each other."

"Ohhh, each other-each other. Got it."

"You like teasing me don't you?"

"It's got a nice flow."

"Yeah, yeah. Well still. We've known each other for eight years already. We could have been celebrating our eight year anniversary right now if we hadn't enjoyed those pre-8 years of bantering and sexual frustration we've all been fighting aka the undesired foreplay."

"Who's 'we all?'"

"Me, you, the town..."

"So now you admit that the town saw something between us..."

"I see all. I do not tell all."

"Mystery woman. Got it."

"You know, it's not like I didn't _try_ with you before."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...there have been times where I've made a move."

"Well obviously you broke something on your way to those moves because I never saw you make a move."

"I attempted to make a move…just didn't follow through."

"Oh...when?" She asked, very curious.

"When we were painting the diner about 4 years ago."

"I don't remember anything happening."

"Obviously...nothing did."

"Well, what were you going to try and do?"

"Kiss you." He said simply. "I knew that if I could just get the courage to do it, and actually kiss you, I'd feel satisfied. Even if you'd hate me for doing it afterwards, I just wanted to be able to answer all the questions I've once asked myself."

"What were those questions?"

"What it'd be like to kiss Lorelai."

"Hey, no 3rd-person talk. Too complicated."

"What it'd be like to kiss you." He corrected himself, rolling his eyes.

"Well what happened." She asked intrigued by his story. Little did he know she knew exactly what he was talking about. As a matter of fact, she even remembered what she was wearing that day.

"We were behind the counter. I was showing you the order that my father took one day when the place was still a hardware store. We were just staring at each other," he blurred out of it for a second, remembering the moment, but when she nudged him, he continued. "I remember that's when I noticed how beautiful your eyes were. And I was going to lean in and kiss you--"

"--and then Taylor and the rest of the psychopaths of Stars Hollow came banging on the door." She cut him off, talking rapidly. "And I leaned over on my knees, and you were leaning next to me, and when they finally left and you said thank you, you were going to kiss me again, but weak kneestoo many nerves equalsbailing." She finished, smiling.

"I thought you said you had no reference of that memory." He said laughing.

"Well what can I say? I'm a compulsive liar." He smiled at how familiar those words sounded, remembering the very moment and time that he said those exact same words.

"That's when it all began." She started.

"At Liz and TJ's wedding, when I asked you to dance." He finished, knowing she was talking about her previous, 'compulsive liar' comment.

"That's when I knew we'd end up where we are now."

"Really?" He asked, completely surprised she thought about him in any form other than a friend before he actually kissed her.

"Really. You asked me out that night. I went inside after you walked me home and made a pro and con list, and guess how many con's there were?"

"Do I even want to know?"

"There were 0."

"Amazing. How many pros? 2?"

"Don't under estimate yourself, babe. 52 1/2"

"...and a half?"

"Well, I couldn't count something that I couldn't justify..."

"What the hell are 52 good things about me?"

"Do you really want me to start?"

"Not at all."

"Didn't think so."

She laced her hand through his, and stroked his hand gently, appreciating every single moment of this night.

"52 1/2...aka 52.50. I owe you 52.50."

"How come?"

"How could you forget? You bought my basket for 52.50."

"Oh right, must have slipped my mind." He said smiling.

"Yeah, well I've got a little thing to tell you. I lied to you that day."

"When?"

"You asked who I wanted to buy my basket...well; I don't care about the Colin's kid buying it to clean my gutters. I was hoping _you_ would clean my gutters." She said smiling wickedly.

"Ah jeez...that was 3 years ago. You didn't want me to buy your basket 3 years ago."

"So what. Maybe _I've_ been pining..."

Utterly and simply surprised...speechless almost. Here she was, pretty much admitting she's had a thing for him for a few years. He cursed himself for never asking her out earlier.

"Yeah well I wish you would have told me sooner..."

"Hey, maybe if you would have had the balls to ask me out earlier."

"So dirty."

"Yeah well, what can I say? I'm a dirty princess with a sexy prince. I like you in spandex, baby."

"What are you taking about? I'm not wearing spandex."

"Clearly. You'd still look sexy."

"Okay."

"So, why didn't you ask me out before?"

This wasn't the conversation he wanted to get into so he attempted to change the subject. "I didn't think I was good enough for you." He said simply and quick. "Goodnight, hun."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, first I'm going to go completely past the fact that you called me hun which is a. probably the cutest thing in the world and don't mock me for being a prissy teenager jumping on her bed because her boyfriend actually called her back, this time 4 days after he said he would not 5!" He laughed. "And b. that was definitely some sort of act of endearment, meaning you actually proved you knew I was woman and treated me with some lovey-dovey, let's eskimo kiss all day treatment."

"Trust me I _know_ you're a woman."

She meowed, acting silly. Something she did often. "You do at that. But that's not the point. Why would you think that _you_ weren't good enough for me?"

"I don't want to get into this right now. I'm tired."

"But _I _want to get into this. And I get what I want."

He sighed loudly, emphasizing his annoyance to the best of his ability. "I've watched you for years. In my eyes, you were amazing. You were perfect. Everything I knew I could never have. Which is part of the reason why I never asked you out."

She cut him off slightly. "Because if you actually _did_ go out with me, you'd realize that I'm not any of those things then leaving you to be disappointed with me?" She felt like that's exactly why he didn't ask her out. He had other reasons.

"Not at all. Because to tell you the truth, with us together now, you _still_ are amazing and perfect. I never asked you out before because I'm _not_ perfect. I don't do the whole dating thing. I don't even like dating. I like casual, sit at home and do nothing sort of things. That's what I think is fun. I don't like to dress up and go to fancy restaurants and dance before the foods actually served which, by the way, shows how slow those fancy restaurants really are." He paused, taking a breath. "So the thought of letting _you_ down didn't seem worth the risk. I didn't want to disappoint you. I didn't want to take you on the first date where I'd actually _try _and make an effort, then leaving you to believe that _that's _the kind of guy I am. Because I'm not that kind of guy."

Lorelai thought for a moment, taking ever single thing he said in.

"And I'm _not_ that kind of girl. I left that life, Luke. Sit at home and do nothing sort of things are what I love best. And I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But you my friend, you are pretty damn close. I don't need you to take me to fancy restaurants, and dance with me in front of groups of strange people. You're _more_ than good enough for me."

"I dunno…"

"I do. And I don't like that whole self-pity talk. Whether or not you'll admit it, you are my fella, and trust me…if I didn't want you to be, you wouldn't be." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "But don't worry. I want ya."

"Good."

"So next time you think you're not doing something good enough…remember this conversation."

"I will."

"And for the record, _I'm_ the one with the problems. I'm one crazy person."

He laughed. "Goodnight Lorelai."

"Goodnight Luke."

_Oh, happy days…_

_--_

It was a few days after the dance marathon. Rory was on her way home to pick up a few things in between cramming for a few tests.

"Paris, I already told you I'd get it." Rory said in the phone, rolling her eyes.

"Well all I'm going to say is you better bring it Gilmore or else it's on. And I'm not talking 'hey let's humiliate Rory in front of her Prince Charming', I'm talking, 'hey let's stick Rory's head through something sharp.'"

"On that humble note..."

"All I'm saying is bring it. Where are you right now?"

"I'm going to be home in a few minutes."

"Great. Your mother will probably be home, leaving you to be distracted then forgetting the books. You guys will talk, she'll mention the new boots she got, the fact that she couldn't decide...leather or suede...black or brown, cause God knows the wrong color clashes with the decor. She'll ask if you've done anything interesting lately and you can say you jumped off another bridge the other day, nothing new or for that matter, unordinary. She'll take you out to eat at the truck-stop of a diner shop that you guys insist on eating at 24/7 because something about the way the burger boy flips the burgers is so attractive, and you'll leave, from the diner, without my books."

"My mom's not really a suede girl, Paris."

"That's not the point, Rory. The point is that if you forget your books, consider yourself locked out tonight."

"Oh look at where I am...I'm pulling onto my block now, so I'll see you later Paris, bye now."

"Bye."

Rory hung up her phone and threw it in her purse. Her plan was to make this a quick stop. There wasn't time to mess around and talk...or get distracted like Paris thought she would. She had an important meeting to be at in a few hours and everyone knows how persuading Lorelai can be. _'Just ten more minutes. I want to show you my new catalog addressed to Sir Bob Walter.'_ Lorelai could be very persuasive.

As she pulled into the driveway, the first thing she noticed was Luke's truck in front of her car. Lorelai's car wasn't around so she figured she had just run out for a few minutes. Rory hadn't talked to Luke since he and Lorelai began the 'pretending' game which had going on for about 4 weeks now. She hadn't been home for a while, school was piling up on her hard, and having more of a social status didn't help the fact either. Though things seemed to be going fine, Rory wanted to make sure things between them weren't at all weird. After all, Luke had always been there for her. If he was in a fight with Lorelai, he'd still be there for Rory. Like the time when she fractured her wrist and she went to talk to him. Though he was mad at Lorelai, he was never, and _could_ never be mad at Rory.

"Hey Luke!" She called, walking up the steps of her porch. She glanced at his toolbox. "Hey Bert."

He looked up from his toolbox and smiled, rolling his eyes slightly. "Oh hey Rory. Home for the weekend?"

"No, actually I'll just be here for a few minutes. I have to pick up a bunch of books for an article Paris is writing, and then I've gotta stop at Lane's real quick to get a few more books."

"Sounds like a lot of books."

"That's cause it is."

"Ah, got it. So, uh, how have you been lately?" He knew that Lorelai told Rory about them pretending, but he didn't know if she had told her anything else. Like the fact that she hates him, or that Rory shouldn't talk to him. 'No, that's not Lorelai...plus, it was her idea in the first place.'

"Good thanks. A little tired from all this work but as long as it's getting done..."

"Yeah, school's good? Getting good grades I'm sure?"

"Getting fine grades. Everything's good I'd say. How are you?"

"Oh, ya know..."

"Yeah. Whatcha fixin this time?"

"Oh well, me and Bert," he sighed, rolling his eyes while she laughed, "are fixing the swing."

"What did she do this time?"

"Well, first she thought it'd be funny to store her shoes out here for a while..." he began.

"Oh gosh..."

"And your mother has a lot, and I mean _a lot_ of shoes. So I don't think that helped."

"Probably not."

"And when she finally decided to take them back up to her room, she thought it'd be very Martha Stewart-like to clean out the garage and paint it."

"She does love her painting..."

"Yes, she does...so, she took out all this junk you guys have in there and put it on the swing and after a few too many pounds, it's collapsed so here I am fixing it."

"So I can see. Is my mom around?"

"Nope, she's at work."

"Oh okay well...I guess it's better that way...I've gotta get back to school soon anyways. I'll be right back, ok?"

"Sure."

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine thanks though."

As Rory walked into the house, she grabbed the books she needed, and headed right back out the door.

"So, I guess I'm going to go."

"Oh okay. Well, I hope you come home soon again. We've missed you around here."

"I will. I'm definitely having some Luke's coffee-withdrawal."

"Happens to the best of us."

"Yeah, it does..." She sat down on the bottom step of the porch. "So, Luke...you've been okay lately?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah."

"You know with the whole..."

"Oh, right."

"It's kind of a silly idea, don't you think?"

"I told her that to begin with but...I can't leave this town. At least not now."

"I understand."

"At least someone does. Taylor wouldn't, that's for sure."

"I'm surprised you're doing this for _Taylor's_ sake. You don't have to listen to him, ya know."

As he thought her sayings over, he realized she was right. Sure Taylor might not force him to leave, but he still wanted to act as he has been because that meant keeping Lorelai closer for a little longer. He didn't want anybody to know that though...

"I don't have to listen to him but I bet he could find a way to make me leave."

"Yeah, probably..."

"But it's working for now."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Luke's eyes averted to Rory's car, where as Rory's eyes averted to Bert.

"You know, things may be weird between you and my mom, but I don't want things to be weird with us."

He looked at her, seriousness in his eyes and tone. "They're not."

"I'm sorry about what happened."

"I appreciate that. But it's not your fault in anyway."

"I know but I still feel like I should apologize. I know how you feel-- felt about my mom."

He locked his eyes on his feet, gripping his hands. "Yeah well, things happen."

"Right...things happen." She stood up and turned to Luke. "So, take care."

"You too, kid."

She smiled a little. "I'll see you around Luke."

"Yeah I'll see you around."

"Hey tell my mom I say hi."

"I will."

She nodded her head, smiling and waving goodbye, heading back to her car.

Things happen...

----

The next day at work as Lorelai was pestering Sookie to make the coffee more intense, an annoyed Michel walked into the kitchen.

"Lorelai, there is somebody here to see you."

"For me?"

"No the other Lorelai I know."

"Rory's not here, sweetie." She said smiling wickedly.

"_Yes, _it's for you."

Lorelai smirked at Sookie and headed to the front of the Dragonfly looking for whoever was waiting for her.

"The place looks great." A voice said from behind.

Lorelai's eyes widened, utterly and completely surprised. A pit fell to her stomach, curious and confused as to the shockingness of this visit. Afraid that in someway it had to do with him…"Wow! Long time no see." She said, smiling.

* * *

A/N #2- Hope you liked the chapter! Hopefully chapter 3 will be up early next week! :-) Questions, comments, concerns? Just leave a review!

(PS-As you can see, I like the whole flashback thing. Probably because I feel guilty writing a semi-JJ story AT THE TIME, but keep in mind this is a full-out Luke & Lorelai fic! Hope we've got you all interested!)

Happy Holidays everyone!

ETA: Sorry to say but the edited version of this story got deleted so sorry for the typing errors you may come across!


	3. Please Leave

_Disclaimer: _Gilmore girls belong to the WB & the Palladino's.

_A/N:_ Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! It mean's a lot to us and we're so happy that you're enjoying the angsty-joy ride you've signed yourselves up for. We appreciate the feedback, so please continue to review! It encourages the updating to occur quicker! And just to let you all know, _all_ of your questions will soon be answered!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Please Leave**

Her smile was brighter than memorable. "Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"Uh," eyes still widened and lost on words, "it sure has been."

She laughed politely at how shocked Lorelai looked. "Hey, I'm just glad you remember me!"

"Rachel my friend…you are unforgettable."

"Glad to know it." She looked around the Inn, admiring it all. "Congratulations on the Dragonfly Inn."

"How did you know we opened it?"

"Well, for one, it's not longer called, or in the same location as the Independence Inn..."

Lorelai laughed pathetically, completely in shock as to why Rachel was here.

"And secondly, I read an article about the place in a magazine on hotels recently."

"Oh yeah, I think I know what you're talking about."

"So, congratulations again."

"Thanks, though I owe most of my appreciation to you. If it weren't for you, who knows if Sookie and I would have ever thought about re-opening this place."

"Glad I could help." She said nodding her head.

The level of awkwardness increased as the normality of their conversation continued. Lorelai's mind raced with questions while Rachel stood there casual as ever.

'Please don't let this be like last time.' She thought as a pit sunk to the bottom of her stomach. 'What if she came back to get back together with Luke?' Sure they were 'still together' but what if Luke realized how crazy the idea was when he saw Rachel again. God knows the poor guy can't function when he's within a 20 mile radius of her.

"Wow, so…huh, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Well for the past few years, I've been steadily writing for a paper in New York."

"Huh, I can't see you as the big city girl."

"You know, at first I couldn't picture myself there either. I always imagined myself living in an earthier environment. New York is full of buses and taxis, and thousands of people running around, stampeding over each other constantly. It's extremely hectic; the things you hear."

"They do have good stores though." Rachel laughed. Of course Lorelai was thinking about shopping.

"I'm sure they do. But I've been writing for a paper down there and I recently just finished an environmental piece; the factors of summer and fall."

"Interesting…"

"I know, it sounds boring but it was actually very fun to write. I observed the town within the two seasons, the environment itself, the people, the business…all sorts of things."

"I'm sure you did a great job with it."

"Thank you. I like to think it was pretty good. I took a few shots that actually won a prize recently."

"That's great, really."

"It is; thanks. So anyways, now I'm writing a piece on winter within small and large cities. I already wrote the first part within New York. It just snowed there about 2 weeks ago and I got all the work done that I needed, but now I need to move onto the 'small' part of the story."

"And what says small better than Stars Hollow…"

"Exactly. So, I'm here…though the weather isn't what I wanted it to be…"

"Ah, the snow. You need the snow, don't you?"

"It would be helpful, that's for sure."

"Well, you're in luck! It's supposed to snow Thursday!"

"I know I saw that on the internet. And I know it's only Monday now, but I was hoping that I could actually get a room, here."

"At the Dragonfly?"

"Of course. I mean, I don't know any other hotels around here, and I'd love to give you the business, not that you need it or anything…but I figured we could hang out a bit, it'd be nice to get some information from you for my article."

"Oh well," she plastered on a smile a little larger than called for, "I'd love to help. Let me just see what I've got open…"

"Great. Thank you so much, really Lorelai. This is going to help me out a lot."

"No problem at all. Let me just check some things on the computer..."

Lorelai started fiddling around with the computer as Michel walked to the front desk just as the phone began to ring.

"Michel, will you get that?" Lorelai asked. "I'm doing something."

"And I'm not?" She looked over at Michel who was eating an egg-white omelet that Sookie made especially for him.

"Michel, the phone. And how many times have I told you not to eat on the front desk! You put the food _under_ the desk so nobody see's it. Gah."

Michel rolled his eyes and answered the phone.

"Dragonfly Inn, Michel speaking...yes she is here today...no she is busy at the moment..."

"Is it for me? Cause if it's for me I'm not busy." Lorelai said reaching for the phone but Michel stood back so she couldn't get it.

"She's doing very important things...yes, very...yes, very...are you deaf? I said very important things...okay hold on..."

He handed her the phone, "it's your boyfriend." He said dully.

Lorelai's heart skipped a beat, and Rachel's eyes raced over at Lorelai, smiling. Smiling curiously that is.

"Hello?...what?...well when did she get there?...fine, ask her to wait for me...please...I know you're not my personal message-man, Luke..."

Rachel's eyes widened. Luke? As in Luke Danes? Ex-Butch Danes? Trekkie for life, I'll never admit my feelings to Lorelai because I'm to damn stubborn to admit my feelings, Luke? Amazing. They had finally gotten together. She was completely surprised that they were dating. Sure she didn't come back to get back together with Luke but still a pang of jealously hit her hard. Sort of like the way Lorelai felt when she met Rachel for the first time.

And funny as it is, the same way Lorelai felt seeing her, here at the Inn, now.

"Fine, let me talk to her...thanks...hey babe how are you?...really?...you're kidding!...did you tell him I'm fat?...blasphemy!...oh-oh, my...you don't say...alright well sure I'll be over in about 20 minutes I've just got to wrap some things up over here...see you soon...tell Luke thanks…what? Oh fine, put him back on…hi…" she started laughing, "really, tell him to stop…sure well tell him I'm taken by the hot diner owner…I know he knows who you are…fine just tell him I'm seeing somebody…I know…so what?...just don't clarify who it is…okay fine." She punched a few buttons in on the computer, laughing again, "I know you do…you told me that before, remember? Alright, sure…see you soon, bye."

She hung up the phone and glanced back at Rachel who was still waiting at the front desk.

"Sorry about that."

Rachel studied her quizzically, smiling awkwardly. "Correct me if I'm wrong...but...did I hear the words Luke and boyfriend in the same sentence?"

Lorelai looked up, acting as if she was thinking very hard. "I do believe they were in different sentences, but one could be substituted for the other?" She offered.

She smiled brightly. "How long has it been?"

Lorelai looked around in thought. "...oh, I don't know it's been about 6 months."

"Oh." Rachel sounded disappointed and Lorelai questioned if it was because she, Rachel, wanted to get back together with Luke. "So it's a fairly new thing, right? I mean it's not like you were dating before and broke up right?"

Did she actually doubt how steady they were? If they could actually work?

"Uh, no it's the first time." She said skeptically.

"That's incredible." She said more or less to herself, yet out loud.

"What is?"

"That it took him 4 years to admit his feelings to you. I definitely thought it'd be a little sooner than that at least..."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" All of a sudden it was as if all tables had turned and Lorelai was incredibly confused.

"Did Luke ever tell you why I left 4 years ago?"

"No..." she said apprehensively.

"Four years ago, I came back here expecting to get my life together and on track...with Luke. As you know, I was living with him for a while and things were good..."

"Right but you left..." Lorelai butted in.

"Yes, I left because I noticed that Luke didn't want to be in a relationship…with me. He didn't want to start things over with me when clearly; the one he's wanted to be with all along was you."

Lorelai's eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you talking about Rachel?"

"I'm talking about how 4 years ago, on the night that I left; I told Luke I was leaving because I knew he wanted to be with you. I told him not to wait too long before telling you but obviously he didn't listen." She laughed a little.

She was completely surprised. Sure she knew Luke may have had a little thing for her. She was upset that Luke never actually made a move, but surprised that Rachel was the one who saw it, and admitted it to Luke. _Luke's_ Rachel. The one who wanted to be with him...at the time.

At least she hoped it was just at that time.

"So you're saying that you left because you thought Luke wanted to be with me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And I'm not just_ saying_ that. I _know_ that. If it wasn't true, he wouldn't have let me leave."

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow. That's why I'm a little confused as to why he never got the courage to ask you our before 6 months ago!"

"Well I guess there were some miss-haps on both of our sides. I have dated a few guys over the past few years...and so has Luke." She didn't even want to bring up the marriage. "But hey, what do you say I'll get you a room and we'll go over to Luke's in a little bit?"

"Well...I don't want to intrude or anything."

"No intruding committed! Come on let's go get you settled in and then we'll go over there."

"Well, alright."

Lorelai showed her where her room was and let her settle in, changing clothes and reapplying her makeup. Lorelai did the same just in case Rachel looked better. She wanted to look her best for Luke, after all.

"Ready?" Lorelai asked when she saw Rachel coming down the stairs.

"All set."

"Alright, let's go."

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

They took Lorelai's jeep and took the long way to Luke's so Rachel could see some of the town.

"Still hasn't changed." She said laughing a little.

"And it probably never will."

Rachel stared at the window, breathing in the fresh air. "Probably not." She said as they pulled into a parking spot in front of the diner.

As they walked out of the jeep and towards the stairs, Lorelai saw Luke in the kitchen with his back faced to them. She was nervous. What if Luke actually wanted to be with Rachel? After all, she was his first love...And who knew what Lorelai was to Luke at this point. They walked in and took two seats at the counter.

"Luke!!" Lorelai screamed into the kitchen.

"Hold on!" He screamed back, not bothering to turn around.

He walked out a second later with two plates and set them in front of a couple in the back, then making his way behind the counter. He didn't even notice Rachel. He was too busy checking Lorelai out.

"Hey!" She said raising her eyebrows, leaning over and giving him a kiss. "Look how Rory's matured."

He turned quickly to Rachel who was sitting there smiling at Luke in complete fascination. 'Did he actually show some signs of PDA?' she wondered.

His eyes widened and jaw dropped. Lorelai leaned across the counter and closed it for him, laughing a little. "Rachel." He muttered out after a few shocking seconds.

Rachel smiled at him, holding back her laugh because of how surprised he looked.

"Well, I'd say Rory's a little bet better looking but hey, I'll take it."

'That's because Rory's my kid and got her good looks from me.' Lorelai thought to herself suddenly becoming very jealous of the way Luke was staring at Rachel.

"What are you doing here?" He finally asked.

"Wow, not even a hello, how are you doing?" Lorelai butted in.

Rachel laughed. "No, it's okay. I'm here for an article I've got to write about winter in small towns."

"So you chose this mental asylum?"

"Well, it sure is small. And I know everybody around here loves winter."

"We sure do!" Lorelai said, clapping excitedly.

"Not _all_ of us love winter." Luke said dully.

"Hey no one asked you." Lorelai hit him playfully.

"Yeah so, Lorelai's letting me stay at the Dragonfly."

"Oh well," Luke used his hands searching for the correct words, "it's great to see you."

She smiled sweetly at him as he smiled back. Meanwhile Lorelai looked like she could stab something sharp in her eye. "It's great to see you too."

Lorelai coughed slightly, attempting to convince them into come back to life.

"Both of you." Rachel said quickly. "It's great to see both of you."

"Well, we're glad you're here." Lorelai smiled brightly.

"Yeah, how long do you think you'll be here?" Luke asked finally able to talk normally. Maybe it was because Lorelai was playing with his hand...was she actually marking her territory? He wondered if she told Rachel about the two of them 'dating.'

"At least till we get some snow." Lorelai smiled at the word.

"Snow, why snow?"

"Well, I'm doing a piece about winter. And you can't photograph cold weather unless you've got snow...and hey…what's research without photos to back it all up?"

"Oh, right."

"And I looked online a few days ago and saw you guys were getting snow soon."

"Thursday!" Lorelai said cheerfully.

"Right...so if it goes that way I'll be here for about a week. You know so I have enough time to get all the information I need."

"What kind of information do you need?" Luke asked.

"I just need to see all the people in the winter, in the snow, the happiness, or sadness, whatever it may be."

Luke nodded his head thinking about how pathetic the article sounded.

"I actually have a favor to ask you guys."

"What is it?" Lorelai said as she got up and walked behind the counter pouring two cups of coffee. Luke looked at her, annoyed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I don't want to be in your way, Lorelai, with me staying at the Inn."

"Oh, it's not a problem at all." She said sipping her coffee and pushing the other cup over to Rachel.

"So I thought that I could take pictures of you guys."

"What?" Luke asked.

"Well, since you guys are dating..." She said, smiling at Luke. "I figured it would be good pictures to take. Just a few of you guys in the snow. You can say no if you want, its fine, maybe I can get Maury or Babette..."

Luke raised his eyebrows. 'That would be interesting.' He thought.

"There's no need for that! We'd be happy to help."

"Really? Uh, that's really great. Thank you guys."

"We would?" Luke asked turning to Lorelai.

"Of course we would silly."

"I know you're not the kind of guy to take pictures Luke, but it would really help my article. Then I'd be out of here before you know it."

Luke stuck his hands in his back pockets and leaned back.

"Hey, let me take you guys out to dinner tonight. Or if you're not free tonight, tomorrow. I'd love to spend sometime with the two of you…catch up on things."

"Aw, that's very sweet of you."

"What do you say? Are you guys free tonight?"

Lorelai looked over at Luke. "Yes we are!"

"Alright great! What do you guys say 7:00?"

"7:00 is perfect!"

"Great! Well I'm going to go back to the Inn, get some things unpacked and settle in for a bit."

"Oh here I'll drive you back." Lorelai said getting up.

"No, no it's fine. I'll walk back. I've got my camera in your car, so I'll just grab that and head on back."

"Are you sure? It's pretty cold out."

"I'm positive."

She stood up and put her coat on then turning to Luke and smiling. "It's nice seeing you again." She said honestly.

He nodded, swallowing hard. "You too."

"I'll see you tonight then?" She asked more towards Luke.

He didn't exactly want to go to dinner with the two people that were (at some point) most important in his life but what excuse could he use? He had to flip a burger or two?

"Tonight." He repeated, solidly.

"Great. I've got a rental car so I'll pick you guys up. Where do you want me to get you?"

"Just come to the diner. That should work out fine." Lorelai said.

"Alright great. I'll see you guys later."

"Alright, bye!" Lorelai said.

"Bye." Luke added before she left.

As Rachel closed the door, Lorelai spun her seat back to the front towards Luke.

"So!" She said smiling. "Looks like you were glad to see her." Jealously was taking over more or less.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

The air was crystallizing, getting colder by the second. If they were lucky, it'd snow before Thursday. Lorelai sure hoped so.

The wait had been long enough. Longer than needed, and even longer than expected.

Maybe one of the reason's she desired snow so much, this time, this year was because of the luck she was having.

It wasn't necessarily good.

Sometimes she'd wish things would go back to the way they were. Hell, forget sometimes—always. She'd do just about anything to have Luke wrap his arms around her in the loving manner he did it with. She'd do anything to kiss him without anyone watching, sharing a passionate feeling she experienced only with him.

She'd do anything to watch him sleep or to hold his hand during the movie they were watching at whatever time it was.

She'd do anything to lay on top of him, holding his hands above his hands kissing him softly in her bed when there were absolutely no lights on, not even the moon shining through the window because it was just too late for that.

They had spent the whole night talking.

But letting go was a painful process she had to get used to. She had to grasp the factors of reality.

No matter how painful they were.

As she approached the diner at a quarter to seven she scanned the diner not spotting Luke.

She walked behind the counter and stuck her head in the kitchen.

"Hey Caesar…is Luke around?"

He turned around and smiled slightly. "He's upstairs."

"Great, thanks."

She walked up the stairs and stood by the door thinking about the happy memories they shared in his apartment.

There was the time where Luke carried her in his arms because she fell asleep with her head on the counter. She complained she hadn't had enough coffee to keep her awake. He knew she was sick. He brought her up to his apartment and put her on the couch because his bed with full of crap that Lorelai took out of his closet during the day. He did a few things before scooting her against the back of the couch before climbing in next to her, putting the comforter on the both of them.

There was the other time when it was raining. They had just gotten back from a movie. It was pouring outside and Lorelai took her shoes off in the car because she refused to get them wet. Therefore he was the one who had to get out of the car first, quickly running to her side of the car and letting her jump on his back as he ran them into the diner. It was cold when they got in because the heat wasn't on, and there bodies were soaking wet just from the 10 second walk to the car. He quickly ran up the stairs with her on his back and fiddled with his keys for a good few moments while she was running her hands along his neck and down his stomach.

He finally got the door open and slammed it behind him.

But now, all she had to do was knock on the door knowing this wouldn't be a time to remember. She was just going in to hurry him up; knowing Rachel would be there soon.

She knocked on the door. "Luke? It's me, can I come in."

"Ouch, damnit!" She heard him yell. He opened the door for her, "come on in."

"Uh, you okay?"

"Yeah, just stubbed my toe."

She walked in, observing his apartment. It looked messier than usual. Interesting…

"You about ready? Rachel said she'd be here at seven."

"Yeah, I'm just looking for a different shirt. This seems to have shrunk. As if that's possible."

"Well, it actually is possibly seeing as its completely shrinkable material." She said grabbing the shirt from his hand, feeling the material and looking at the tag.

"I couldn't picture you as a material girl."

"Are you kidding? I'm the queen of shopping."

"I know _that._ I didn't know you look into the materials."

"Well when I buy an eighty dollar shirt and in shrinks in the wash, you better believe I look at the tag."

She got up and headed too his dresser placing her hands on the knobs of the third drawer down, glancing at him before moving. "May I?"

"Yeah, what the hell."

She opened his drawer and instantly pulled out a dark blue shirt that he often wore when going out with Lorelai. She always loved it because it brought out the color in his eyes. Simply beautiful.

She threw it over to him. "Here, put that on."

He glanced down at it before nodding his head and quickly taking off his bare gray tee-shirt he was wearing. Lorelai couldn't help but watch him take off his shirt. She felt so grateful that he did that in front of her. Not because she loved seeing his body, which by the way, she did, but because she felt glad to know not everything was uncomfortable between them.

He quickly put on the new shirt and grabbed his keys.

"Thanks." He said glancing at her. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

He opened the door for her and placed a hand on her back as she walked out of the door.

"You look nice." He said, truthfully.

"Thank you." She said quietly before the entered the diner.

Miss Patty and Babette were in the diner when they walked down. They smiled at the two of them before whispering.

Lorelai walked past there table next to the counter just as Patty was whispering, "I wonder what they were doing up there…"

At seven on the dot, Rachel walked in. Luckily Patty and Babette had just left or else who knows what would be on the main page of the Stars Hollow Webpage the next morning.

"Hey guys!" She said putting her purse down. Luke's eyes traveled down her body as Lorelai's eyes focused on his.

'Of course she had to wear that cute shirt…' Lorelai cursed herself for not wearing Luke's favorite shirt of hers. Black, slinky, with a very plunging neck line though this one ranked pretty damn close.

"Hey, love the shirt." Lorelai threw in, hoping to break the ice between herself and her jealousy. She couldn't let Luke see her in any way at all, jealous.

She smiled and looked over at Luke. "Hey."

"Hey." He said, eyes still fixated along her body.

"You guys ready? I made us a reservation at Sniffys."

Lorelai's mouth fell open. Sniffys Tavern…of Love? As in, _the_ Sniffys. The place Luke took her on there first date. Where she became so close to Mazie and Buddy.

Tears almost flooded her eyes. She didn't want to go there. She'd do just about anything to _not_ go there. She'd rather go to Emily's. This was just becoming too much for her…

"Oh, good. Well, hey mind if I use the bathroom real quick, Luke? Before we leave to go to _Sniffys._" She said cold-heartedly and quietly.

He looked at her, understanding how she felt as she stared at him coldly. All he could do was nod his head.

So what if a few tears spilled on her way up to the bathroom? A little Kleenex could fix that.

But Kleenex certainly couldn't fix the way she felt. She felt betrayed and really for no reason. Who cares if they were going to Sniffys? The place _they_ had their first date? The place they left that night, knowing nothing would ever be the same again. They place they went to just about once, sometimes even twice, every single week. Who care's?

Lorelai. And even Luke did a little as he said nothing to Rachel while she sat down at the counter going through her purse, looking for something.

Lorelai came down moments later avoiding all contact with Luke. "Ready."

"Alright great let's go." Rachel said, getting up from her seat not even noticing the hostility passing through the room.

About twenty-five minutes later, they arrived at Sniffys. Rachel mostly talked about her article, and previous articles she's written over the past few years while Luke and Lorelai both mumbled an appreciative, 'oh that's great,' every few minutes.

As they slowly got out of the car, Rachel looked over at them, finally noticing the silence between them.

"You guys okay? I've barely heard a peep out of you."

"Peep." Lorelai said sarcastically, trying to fake a smile.

"I see you haven't lost your wit, Lorelai."

"My wit has yet to be lost."

Luke walked over to Lorelai and loosely held on to her hand. But the one thing Lorelai wanted most right now was to be as far away as Luke as possible. She didn't want to be here with him especially, but what could she do now, run? That'd be real mature. This was supposed to be _their_ place. Maybe she was being a little too possessive.

Rachel observed them holding hands and couldn't help but smile.

"And about you two…" Luke and Lorelai both glanced up at her. "I want to know all the details."

Luke rolled his eyes, and Lorelai nodded, smiling politely. "Oh you'll get them." Lorelai said under her breath as they walked up to the door.

When they walked in, Lorelai squeezed Luke's hand even tighter. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand as they walked up the host stand.

"We have a reservation for seven o'clock under the name Rachel."

The host looked through her book and nodded. "Right this way, please."

They walked to a booth and Lorelai slid into one end while Rachel sat across from her. Luke stood at the foot of the table looking rather uncomfortable before sitting next to Lorelai.

"Lucas?" A voice from behind called. "I didn't know you guys were coming tonight! I would have gotten you and Lorelai's table ready. Here, get up, I'll switch you guys over."

"No, no, it's fine." Luke said standing up and smiling, greeting Mazie with a big hug. Lorelai slid out of her seat and gave her a small hug and kiss on the cheek. Over the past few months, they had become real close.

Mazie squinted her eyes, looking at Rachel who was sitting, admiring the scene before her.

"Is that Rachel?" She asked loudly.

"Hi Mazie!" She said, getting up and giving her a hug.

"My God, it really is you. I haven't seen you in _years!_ How have you been?"

A _large_ pit fell to the bottom of Lorelai's stomach. _Large_, indeed.

"I've been great. I've been living in New York for the past few years, working up there, it's been really nice."

"Oh, that's great. Well, what brings you to Connecticut?"

"Oh I'm actually writing an article for work and I have some things to do within Stars Hollow to complete it."

"Well make sure you send us a copy. We'll hang it up on the wall like we did with your other one that included the restaurant!" Mazie said, pointing towards the wall.

Lorelai shook her head pathetically and took her seat, as Luke followed.

"Sit, sit." Mazie told Rachel. "Too bad, Buddy's not here tonight though he'd love to see you. All of you. You two haven't been over in a while, everything's okay I assume?"

"Everything's great Mazie."

"Lorelai, the Inn's still busy, right? You get a break every now and then though, right?"

Lorelai smiled, appreciating the spotlight. After all, she always loved being the center of attention. "I'm still getting a break."

"Alright, well, what do you guys want? I'll just get you all your food. Rachel?" She asked turning to her.

"Can I just have a turkey burger?" Lorelai almost puked at how disgusting that sounded.

"No problem. And you two? The usual?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah, that'd be great Mazie."

"Alright, I'll be back with some drinks."

As she walked away, Rachel took a sip of her water that was on the table and smiled at the two of them.

"So, you guys come here a lot I take it?"

Luke looked over at Lorelai. "Yeah, we do."

"It's a nice little place." Lorelai said before taking a sip of her water as well.

"So, I want to know. Luke how did you finally come across asking Lorelai out?"

"I uh, asked her out."

"Ha. Lorelai, I think I'd have to get details from you."

Lorelai looked at Luke, forceful face in tact, not a corner of her lip rising. Better yet, it almost as if it was frowning.

"Well, he asked me out after his sisters wedding." She said, pinching his cheek harder that she probably should have. "Didn't you, sweetie?"

She wasn't just pretending…it seemed as if she was actually pissed.

"Ouch."

"Oh, I'm sorry did I hurt you?" She leaned over and kissed his cheek several times. "Better I hope."

Rachel laughed as the color flushed to Luke's face.

"And, huh…let's see. We were supposed to go to a movie that next weekend. But before that, I had a test run at the Inn. We invited some people to stay for the night so we could work out all the kinks…"

"That sounds like a good idea."

"It was. And, Luke came and my ex-boyfriend Jason was there, telling Luke we were supposedly still together, even though we weren't, were we Pookie?" She talked like a baby, patting him on the leg.

"Uh, no you weren't."

"And we started fighting about how he thought Jason and I were still together, and then all of a sudden, the next thing I notice is that we're kissing!"

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow. It just happened. And ever since then, I knew everything would be perfect. Did you, Luke?" She asked, cooingly.

Lorelai looked over at Luke who looked extremely uncomfortable. Mazie had brought them there drinks sometime in-between Lorelai's ramble, and he took a large sip of his beer that Mazie finally let him order.

"I knew it." He said.

"That's so great. Really. Luke, I told Lorelai that I left because I knew you wanted to ask her out." Luke put his drink down, coughing slightly.

"You what?" He asked.

"I told her that I left because I knew that you wanted something to happen between the two of you."

Lorelai glanced over at Luke who looked rather embarrassed. She was having one hell of time embarrassing him also. Half of her was just trying to show Rachel that they really were still together, happy as ever. The other half was all jealousy. She was still pissed that they were at Sniffys and that Mazie loved Rachel. She even had her article up.

Luke never told her that. Luke never told her he brought anyone else but her here. That's why she was so mad. It was supposed to be _their_ place.

"Oh." Luke said lamely.

"I just can't believe it took you 4 years to ask her out…"

"Oh uh, yeah." He didn't know what to say so he glanced around the room. "Hey look Rachel your articles on the wall still."

Lorelai coughed loudly. "That's what Mazie said."

Rachel turned around and looked at the article in the back, hanging on the wall. "Ha, that's funny. That's where I mentioned when we came here with my parents."

"Oh yeah." Luke said suddenly remembering the incident. "How are your parents?"

"Oh, there great. I actually went to go visit them a few weeks ago."

"Tell them I say hi, will ya? I still have the baseball card from your dad."

"Get out. That's extremely old. He'd be glad to know you still have it."

"I'm glad I do. I've had that for about 12 years."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yeah like my horoscope which you've had for what 8 years? I guess I've got competition don't I?" Lorelai snapped a little harsher than she intended too.

Luke's eyes widened and he took another sip of his beer.

"Horoscope?" Rachel asked.

"Long story." Lorelai said quickly before something bad started.

"Luke, remember the time that we went skiing in Colorado?"

"You went skiing in _Colorado?_" Lorelai asked hastily.

"Yeah."

"You never leave Connecticut."

"I went to Maine…"

"Yeah but that's about all. You hate going places."

"Yeah this was a while ago."

"Yeah," Rachel butted in, "we went skiing and that's when Luke sprained his ankle. We had to stay in the cabin for two days straight because it hurt him so badly."

'Great, two days of endless sex. That's nice to know.' Lorelai thought.

"Aw, you never told me you sprained your ankle." Lorelai turned to Luke. She needed to loose the attitude before Rachel became suspicious.

"That's nothing compared to when he broke his finger." Rachel said as Lorelai's mouth fell open at all these new things she was learning.

Luke laughed, remembering the moment. "That's when I was making dinner for you and I slammed it in the drawer."

"I still remember the phrase you screamed when that happened!"

Luke laughed as Lorelai rolled her eyes, playing with her napkin.

"Luke remember when you cooked me dinner and TJ--"

"—oh and remember how I didn't open the next day and you told Taylor to leave or go to hell because we were so tired from being up all night," Lorelai practically chocked, "trying to fix my finger without actually _going_ to the hospital."

Did he actually just cut her off? Amazing.

It's funny because in this sort of situation, she'd assume that he'd actually try to work with her. Try to make it seem like things were okay between them by reminiscing over there past memories like she done for him. Like how she, Lorelai, and others have defended him in the past…

* * *

**First Week of September…**

Emily, Lorelai, Luke, and Rory were all sitting at the dinner table. This was Luke's first time joining all 3 of them together at the famous Friday night dinners.

He had gone alone with Lorelai few times, but tried as hard as possible to avoid them at all costs.

This time, Lorelai begged him to go with her because she knew Rory would be late.

Falling for her, like he did every time, he accepted her demand, threw on a button down shirt and a nice pair of pants, and escorted her to her mothers.

"Myra!" Emily shouted from the dinner table. "Myra for God's sake, will you please bring out the food! We're famished out here!"

"Hey, at least you said please. Thatta girl." Lorelai said.

Emily rolled her eyes and ignored Lorelai's previous comment.

"So girls, I got a call from Christopher the other day." Lorelai's heart quickened, eyes gazing at her mother with anger, stomach falling down low.

"That's cool. Hey Myra, you coming out anytime soon? I think I might have to start nibbling on this disgusting salad." Lorelai shouted.

"Yeah, this is sort of bad, Grandma." Rory added trying to change the subject.

"That was rude girls. Anyways, like I said, I got a call from Christopher the other day."

"That's cool, mom."

Lorelai stared at Luke who looked coldly at her, picking up his fork and stabbing into his salad.

"He was telling me that he bought Gigi, oh what was it," she started laughing to herself, "some God awful toy that she absolutely adores. It's some walking, talking doll and he said that she always calls it Lar-lai because it has curly brown hair."

"Glad to know a plastic figurine reminds Chris' kid of me."

"Oh don't be silly. She knows its not you, she just thinks it looks like you, therefore, she calls it a slang version of your name. She's beginning to talk. He's been trying to teach her how to say daddy, but she's still stuck on the dada phase."

Lorelai, continuingly to get uncomfortable dropped her fork, trying to make a fuss without words.

"I swear, he's such a great father." Emily said as Lorelai was taking a sip of wine but was interrupted with the choking taking place.

"What?" Lorelai asked aloud.

"He takes such great care of that kid. And he has a nice steady job so that he can afford to take care of her, and with you helping him Lorelai, he has everything he'll ever need."

Luke tried as hard as humanly possible to ignore the steady job comment.

"I'm not going to be around forever, mom. I'm just helping him out temporarily."

"I know that Lorelai, but still, you're helping out so much. It must be hard to work so much. It can't be nearly as easy as working at an Inn, or a diner."

Not only was she offending Luke, but she was also offending Lorelai.

"He loves where he is working, and he's making more money than ever before. He sets aside special times everyday to spend with Gigi in between being at work, and working from home."

"Mom…" Lorelai warned her.

"What Lorelai, I'm just saying he's a great father. I wish he was around more for Rory."

Luke's eyes averted towards Emily. She noticed quickly and simply raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry; excuse me for just a second…" Luke said getting up and heading towards the bathroom.

"Luke!" Lorelai called after him before getting up herself and following him.

As they both disappeared out of the room, Emily tried making small talk with Rory.

"So, how is school Rory? Tell me all about it."

"Grandma…"

"Yes Rory?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what Rory?"

"Why did you completely just offend Luke by flaunting all this Christopher crap?" Rory snapped.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Just now! What you did. You said Christopher was such a great guy, and how he has a steady job and how you wished _he_ was around me. You hurt Luke, Grandma."

"Oh now I don't think I hurt the guy."

"I do Grandma. And I think that was rude, seeing as how you're wrong to begin with."

"I'm wrong about what?"

"About the things you said, Grandma! So what if dad has a good job? He probably doesn't get to spend a lot of time with Gigi which is why he has to _set aside_ time. Which is also exactly why mom and I have to watch her so much. He's never around."

"Oh he is too."

"No, he's not. And I don't know why you said you wish he spent time with us. I don't need to spend time with him. As you can see, over the past few years, small denominations of time with him are all I need. He was never around before; I don't need him to be around now."

"I just thought it'd be nice to have a steady fatherly figure in your life. That's all. I just want what's best for you."

"That's what Luke is there for!"

"What?"

"Luke. He _is_ my **steady** fatherly figure. He's the one that's always been around. Even before him and mom started dating. Now, with them dating, it just makes more sense. But still, he's always been the one that's there for us. Not dad. And Luke's the one that's still around for us. I still don't even see dad. He say's he'll come visit me at school but he never does that. Just last week though, Luke brought up a small bookcase he built me for my room because my other one's crammed."

"Rory…"

"No Grandma. I just want you to listen. All you do is talk down to Luke and I think it's rude. I think you should apologize for being mean to him. You have no idea how much he does for us, or how much we love having him around. You have no idea how much of a father he was to me for the past 19 years."

Rory stared at her coldly as Luke and Lorelai came back in the room not saying a word at all.

The night's hostility level was to a minimum after that.

* * *

…but this time, Luke wasn't trying to work with Lorelai. He was too busy recalling all the happy memories with Rachel.

They began eating and every few minutes, Luke and Rachel would think of some time they once spent together, laughing and talking.

Lorelai shoved her face the whole time.

Mazie bought there food though Rachel insisted she wanted to pay.

"Don't expect to pay here. They only time she ever let Luke pay was on our first date and that was because it was our first date."

Rachel laughed, left the tip, and they all headed in the car.

Rachel pulled into the parking spot in front of the diner and glanced at the gazebo.

"Do you remember when we built that crappy snowman the one winter it snowed over 10 inches in one night."

"That was crazy." Luke said shaking his head.

"I made you make it with me even though you refused for a good hour before giving in."

'It would have taken him 5 minutes to give into me.' Lorelai thought to herself.

"And it winded up getting torn down my Taylor the next morning."

"Intruding town property without the correct permit."

Luke laughed shaking his head.

"We had some fun times, don't' you think?" Rachel asked.

"We have."

Rachel looked over at Lorelai.

"I'm sure you guys have great times together now."

"Yeah, we do." Lorelai said quickly.

"Alright well. I guess I'll let you guys go now. Thanks for coming with me tonight. I had a great time with the two of you."

"It was our pleasure." Lorelai said.

"Lorelai, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be there all day…"

"Alright well great. Luke, I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow also."

"Great."

They got out of the car and Rachel drove off. Lorelai quickly turned around and stomped off to her car.

"So, uh…I guess I'll see you later?" Luke asked, following her to her car.

"I don't know."

"Oh, well okay."

"Yeah, okay is right."

"What's the matter? You seemed a little pissed tonight, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem a little pissed right now too."

"Well correct me if _I'm_ wrong but you seemed a little close to Rachel tonight."

"What? What the hells that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go ask Rachel what it means?"

"Lorelai!"

"What Luke!" She turned around looking angry at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sniffys is _our_ place!" She practically screamed. "You never said you went there with anybody else. You even told me I was the first person you took there!"

"I said you were the first important person I took there." He corrected her.

"What all of a sudden Rachel wasn't important to you? Great, I'm real eager to hear what you'll tell your next girlfriend about me…for all I know, you'll probably say that we dated for a week and it was pointless!"

"What the hell! Rachel _was_ important but we weren't even dating when I brought her there! That was years before we ever started dating! If you didn't remember, we went to high school together. And you know damn well that you weren't pointless! You were everything to me! Don't be stupid."

"Whatever Luke."

"God what did I do wrong?"

"You acted like you didn't even know me tonight. Did you really think that I wanted to go to Sniffys tonight with you? Do you even remember what happened at Sniffys…after Sniffys…do you remember any of that?"

"Of course I remember that!"

"Well I thought it meant something to you but obviously it didn't."

"It _did!_ It did mean something! Where are you getting all this from?"

She wasn't making much sense…there had to be some reason for all of this.

A single tear rolled down her cheek but she pinched herself to keep from crying in front of Luke.

"It just hurt, Luke." She said quietly.

"What hurt?"

"Everything! Going there with you and _Rachel_," she said sniffling, "going to Sniffys…the same place we went on our first night…and watching you and Rachel talk about all the happy times you guys spent together, it just all hurt."

"Well, I didn't mean to hurt you, Lorelai…but hey, I'm not the only one that's done the hurting…"

"I know. But you did. And to hear her say all these things I never even knew about you? I thought you opened up to me, I thought we were a very open couple; I thought I knew everything about you, but obviously I was wrong."

"What so I didn't tell you that I broke a finger? I'm sorry I didn't know that telling you that was a rule in the 'Dating Lorelai Gilmore Handbook.'"

"Real cute, Luke."

"Well…"

"No. You asked why I was pissed and I told you. It hurt me going there tonight and to know that you are A-Okay with going there, 100 peachy…that hurts even more. You'd think you could muster up a few emotions, but clearly, that's too much to ask for."

"Just cause I'm not crying, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, okay? Have you ever thought about that? Maybe doing this _stupid_ pretending thing hurts more than you thought. And just because I'm not actually showing you I'm sad by crying about going to a stupid restaurant doesn't mean it's not hurting me Lorelai!"

She laughed pathetically at him, shaking his head. "That's nice to know Luke. I'm glad that not only am I nothing but an emotional wreck to you, but to know that you think Sniffys is just a _stupid_ restaurant, that's real nice. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to leave and go home before I cry even more because God knows the judgmental express might attack me if he see's me shed one more tear. So have a nice night, and when you don't see me in the morning, just pray that I'm still alive, because who knows, I may die now, being the emotional drama queen that I am."

She walked up to the car door and grabbed her keys from her purse. She looked around for the correct one and when she finally found it, she dropped her keys in the street. She picked them up and before opening the car; Luke said something she couldn't quiet here.

"What?" She said harshly. "You're going to have to talk louder than that if you expect me to hear you. Sorry I don't have turbo-ears."

"I said I'm sorry, Lorelai. I didn't mean to offend you when I said you were crying. I was just trying to make a point. And Sniffys _isn't_ just a stupid restaurant. I was just as uncomfortable as you were tonight."

"Well you looked pretty damn comfortable with Rachel."

"I was just trying to make things seem normal. I didn't think you'd take it the wrong way. And I didn't mean to offend you tonight."

She looked up at him attempting to forgive him. Instead, she got into the car and rolled down her window.

"Well you did, so that's too damn bad."

* * *

_A/N 2:_ Just remember, the more drama there is only means the better make up there may be.

wink

Happy Holidays everyone!!


	4. Take a Shot

**A/N: **Hi everyone…hope you're all having a nice holiday. Here for you is chapter 4. We hope you all enjoy it…As always; the feedback has been _incredible_ thus far…we _really_ appreciate it. I know it encourages us very much. With every passing chapter, your questions are being closer and closer to finally being answered. So stay with us, and we hope you guys are all still reading! Please, continue reviewing! It'd be the best present you could give us! Thanks again!

**Disclaimer: **Gilmore girls belongs to the Palladinos, and the WB. Watch the frog!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Take a Shot**

It was around 6:00 when Lorelai's alarm clock went off the next morning. There was an extra breeze passing threw the room, she noticed, as she walked to the closet to grab her robe. She wrapped it around herself tightly and walked to the window taking a large sniff of the air before closing it.

"Yep, it's definitely going to snow soon." She closed the window and headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower.

She glanced at herself in the mirror before undressing and getting in. She looked pale, tired, emotionally and physically _drained_ out.

She took off her robe and slipped into the shower.

She didn't feel like adjusting the temperature this time.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

About an hour later, ready to go, she got in her car and drove towards the center of the town. She sat at the red light, waiting to turn right to park on the side street she always parked at. Before the light changed, she quickly reconsidered her decision about going to the diner. The last person she wanted to see right now was Luke. She had just about enough of him and his mouth to last her a good week.

She took a left instead of a right.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was close to 7:30 by the time she got to the Inn. She took the extra long way to work, reminiscing about her fight with Luke the previous night. This had been their first fight since the breakup, and this time they were still filling the file as a 'fake couple.'

She walked into the Inn and Michel was on her back the second she stepped up to the front desk.

"You're 30 minutes late."

"Well aware." She snapped, not in the mood to get into a fight with him.

"You're 30 minutes late and…"

"…why don't you tell the boss on me?" She cut him off. "Oh, oops, wait…that's me."

"You know, I really don't care if you're 30 minutes late. It means 30 more peaceful minutes to myself."

"Good, quit your complaining then."

"And quite frankly, I don't mind if your 30 minutes late everyday. But I'm sure Mr. Nielsen would."

"Oh crap!" She put her hand on the side of her face, eyes closed. She completely forgot about her meeting with Mr. Nielsen at seven. "Is he still here?"

"No. He left about 10 minutes ago."

"Crap. I'm so sorry. I was on my way but then I--"

"Your lame excuses are something else I don't care about. Explain to Mr. Nielsen. I'm sure he'd love to hear them." He said handing her the phone.

Damnit Luke, for distracting her.

"…alright, and once again I'm sorry," she laughed, "you're something else…you sure Mrs. Nielsen won't share ya…alright…yeah I'll live…thanks again, bye." She hung up the phone, smiling proudly to herself.

"Thank God for my damn good looks." She said to Michel who just rolled his eyes. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

She walked into the kitchen, dipping her finger in a bowl on the counter before walking to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup.

"Sook?"

"Be right out!" Sookie called from the pantry.

"Lorelai, great, come here!" She said from the other side of the kitchen. Lorelai took her coffee and sat on a stool.

"Boy do I have news for you."

"Hold on before you start," she took a large sip of her coffee hoping it'd help her headache go away, "sorry this is the first cup of coffee I've had all morning."

Sookie stopped stirring and looked up at Lorelai. "Are you saying you haven't been to Luke's this morning?"

"Uh, no, didn't have time." She said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

"So you guys aren't in a fight?" Sookie pestered.

Well sure _they_ were in a fight, or…mad at each other…but Sookie and the rest of the town didn't know that. She wasn't going to let their personal fight interrupt there game of pretending, and since Sookie didn't know about the two of them, she played along as if everything was fine.

"No, we're great, why?"

"Well, I just thought that maybe, what I'm about to tell you, would be the cause of a fight if you were in a fight, but clearly you're not in a fight, so the whole theory about you being in a fight over what I'm about to tell you isn't the problem."

"Oh my, on with the story, Sookie!"

"Sorry. Anyways, you'll never guess who I saw."

"Oh sweetie, please don't tell me Norman Mailer is back. I don't think I deal with another one of your 'you're a very fortunate yet untalented writer who uses words I cant pronounce but you have enough money to buy me all the dictionaries in the world though you won't buy more than a cup of iced tea' rants because believe it or not, one _is_ enough."

"It's not Norman Mailer." She said quickly.

"Then who is it?"

"Uh, think red…hair…" She said very slowly.

"Oh please don't tell me Mariah Carrey's here. I don't think I could deal with her. She'd probably con me into recording her next message to the fans."

"No, no, it's not Mariah Carrey," she lowered her voice and whispered to Lorelai, "its Rachel."

Lorelai smiled and took the last sip of her coffee. "Oh, I know."

"What do you mean you know?"

"Well, I saw her."

"What? When?"

"Well, she came up to the front desk yesterday afternoon. Surprisingly enough, I recognized her, talked to her, gave her a room, and went out to dinner with her and Luke."

"You're kidding! I was positive you didn't know about this one."

"Sorry…got anything else you want to share?"

"Ooh, yeah…you missed your meeting this morning!" She cooed.

"Know that too." She said winking at her.

"Damnit!"

"Sorry babe."

"That's alright. So tell me, why is Rachel here!"

"Well she's writing an article for work about winter in small and large cities. She already did the work on the New York half of her article, and she came here to finish it up."

"Cause nothing says small better than Stars Hollow…"

"My thoughts exactly. So, she's writing about Stars Hollow in the winter, and photographing some pictures when it snows, and she asked Luke and I if we could help with the picture part."

"You're kidding."

"Not kidding at all. So, we said yes and to thank us for it, she took us to dinner last night." Lorelai grimaced at the words of it, but didn't let Sookie see her face.

"That was nice of her."

"Yeah, we had a great time." Big…fat…lie.

"Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, when did you see her?"

"I saw her come down this morning. I didn't say hi to her, I just saw her walking out the door, besides…I wasn't positive if it was her. So I decided to take a look at the computer and saw that she was staying in one of the rooms."

"Very smart of you."

"That's what I thought." She said smiling proudly.

"Well, I'm off to go work. Come visit me soon!" Lorelai said waking out of the kitchen.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was around 7 when she finally left work. She had just finished talking to Rachel, where they made plans to have lunch together at the Inn tomorrow.

It had been a long, tiring day. She got into her car and leaned the seat back so it was lying down completely. She took her shoes off and laid back for a few minutes before leaving.

A lot had been on her mind lately. The Inn, her parents…but mostly, and just about always, Luke. She couldn't figure whatever it was she was trying to figure out, out. Pretending was a lot harder than she ever imagined. She wanted so badly for everything to be okay but wasn't sure of how to come across talking to Luke about _it._ She hurt him. Badly. And she hurt herself badly. So here are these two, incredibly hurt people, pretending to be together.

'What's the good in that?' She thought to herself.

She figured if she'd talk to Luke about them working things out, or at least trying to, that he'd automatically change the subject. Or if he wanted to be even worse about it, he'd say, 'forget this pretending crap. I quit.'

She didn't want to risk that.

She leaned her seat back up and put her keys in the ignition.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

She pulled up to the diner around 7:30. She didn't want to go in but knew she should. Maybe, somehow, she could speak to him alone and apologize for last night.

She walked into the diner and when spotted him, changed her mind. She didn't _want_ to apologize to him. If anyone were to apologize, it would have to be him.

She sat down at the counter next to Patty.

"Hey Patty."

"Oh hello gorgeous! How are you?"

"Fine, how are you?"

"I'm great, thanks."

It was then that Luke walked up to her, smiling though he looked pissed beneath it all.

"Hey." He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hi." She said, trying to act cheery though she could have sounder a little happier.

"Oh, no, no Luke." Patty said, putting her drink down on the counter. "That's no way to kiss a girl…especially Lorelai. They don't get much better looking than her, and if you plan on keeping her, you better try that kiss again. I know if I were your girlfriend," she said laughing a little, admiring the redness flushing to Luke's cheeks, "I would be offended. You don't want this gorgeous woman to be offended do you?"

Luke rolled his eyes and leaned across the counter kissing Lorelai for a second time, this time a little longer.

"Much better Luke, but you still need a little work."

"What can I get for you?" He asked Lorelai.

She looked up at him, cold-heartedly.

"Burger…" she paused a little, "to-go."

He sighed and went into the back to cook her food, coming out a few minutes later with a bag stuffed of food she didn't even order.

She took out her wallet but he pushed it back. "I've got it tonight…" she looked up at him, analyzing his face to see if he really meant it. It looked like he did. "Listen, can I talk to you, uh…upstairs for a few minutes?" He asked considerately.

She didn't want to get into something with him.

"Sorry, I've got to go home. I'm expecting an important call from Rory."

He nodded his head, and watched her lie straight to his face.

"See you later though."

He locked eyes with her as she backed up to the door, still staring at him. She turned around and left the diner.

'Hope that didn't look too suspicious.' She thought. 'Neh, Patty was too busy drooling over the guy next to her.'

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was around 3 am and she had been tossing and turning for the past hour, unable to fall back asleep. At first, she thought she forgot to lock the door, not that that would be such a big deal. Then she thought she left the sink on in her bathroom because she kept hearing something drip.

But after minutes of thinking about these things, she figured it was just her imagination. She knew it wasn't the sink, and she knew she locked the door. It was something else…something she couldn't quite think of.

She opened her eyes and got up, suddenly realizing what it was. She walked over to the window and opened it widely, smiling to herself.

It was snowing.

She watched it from her window for a few minutes, enjoying every second of it until she realized the mere image of it wasn't satisfying enough. She put on her robe and slippers and walked downstairs. She opened the door and headed out to the swing on the porch, rocking slowly back and forth.

She smiled to herself, thanking the weather Gods for bringing the snow a day early. It wasn't Thursday yet…technically it was very early Wednesday morning. Wednesday, November 23rd.

Her smile instantly turned into a serious face, looking down from the snow to her hands. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the swing.

It would have been their 7 month anniversary.

She walked inside and put on a pot of coffee knowing she wouldn't get much more sleep that night.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

By the morning, it had snowed at least 2 inches. Not much, but it was certainly something.

The forecast said they expected it to snow for the rest of the day and night, eventually equaling up to a good 7 or 8 inches by tomorrow morning. The thought alone made her smile.

She was in the kitchen drinking her 6th or 7th cup of coffee for the morning. That was the only possible thing to keep her from passing out on the couch in the lobby. She was extremely tired after her adventurous night with the snow.

She was meeting Rachel for lunch in the dining room in a few minutes so decided to take a quick stop in the bathroom before sitting down. She took a few minutes to freshen up, and even sat on the closed toilet, leaning her head against the wall because she was so tired.

She got up, put on her energetic face and made her way to the dining room where she saw Rachel already sitting at a table. Damn, she was good.

"Hey!' Lorelai said taking a seat across from Rachel. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh, you didn't, don't worry. I just got here."

"Great. So, how are you?"

"Good. I'm glad you could take some time to eat with me. I've been a little bored up there." She said pathetically laughing at herself.

"Not much to do in Stars Hollow, is there?"

"Which is one of the reasons I left."

"We all have our reasons."

They talked a few minutes until the waiter came up and took there order.

"So, how does tomorrow look for you?" Rachel asked.

"Tomorrow?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"For the pictures."

"Oh, right. Tomorrow…yeah, tomorrow still looks good. I usually get out of here early on Thursdays, and Luke…he can take a break whenever." Crap. She had somewhat forgotten about the pictures.

"Great, what time do you think you'll be done around here?"

"Probably close to 3:30."

"Alright great, well I'll come down around 3:30 and we can go to the diner and get Luke. Or you could stop home and change or something if you'd like."

"Want me to wear anything special?"

"Winter wear's good for me."

Lorelai smiled. "I love winter clothes."

"Well, good. Though I don't know if Luke does..."

Lorelai waved her hand in the air. "Oh don't worry about him. I'll get him to wear anything you want."

Rachel smiled, appreciating everything they were doing for her.

"So, I want to know all about you two."

"Oh me and Luke?"

"Yes you and Luke," Rachel said laughing. "I watched you guys. I saw how he acted around you…"

"What?" Lorelai played stupid.

"I don't know if you remember, but the first time I met you, he could hardly mumble up a sentence regarding you. You were the one who had to finish it off for him."

"I think he was just stunned to see you."

"Or he didn't know how to describe you. Friend, friend I wish was more…" Rachel supplied.

Lorelai laughed, blushing lightly. "I don't know about that…"

"I do. So, tell me…how did you guys finally come upon dating? I want to know everything."

"Well, you already know about the test run…when we kissed…" Lorelai smiled thinking about the moment. "And, that night the next afternoon, I called him at the diner and we basically said we'd talk about _us._ But that was cut out when he called and left 5 messages on my machine, explaining that he had to go help his sister and her husband out in Maine cause they got in a car accident…"

"5 messages, huh? He's got it bad for you."

"And if that wasn't enough, he bought a cell phone to leave those messages."

Rachel's mouth dropped. "Anti-cell phone Luke got a cell phone to talk to you?"

"Guess so."

"Wow. You've got him wrapped around your finger. Soon he'll through out his plaid for you!"

"Oh, no way. I love that plaid." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, though wishing she didn't moments later.

"And we talked while he was gone…"

"How long was he gone for?"

"7 weeks."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it was…hard. But he took me out on a date when he got home…"

"Aw, where did you guys go?"

Suddenly becoming uncomfortable, Lorelai looked around the room aimlessly. She didn't want to say they went to Sniffy's. Though she somewhat said they did last night, she didn't think Rachel would remember so she tried covering it up by saying somewhere else.

"We went to a cute little restaurant outside of Hartford. It was very nice."

"I bet it was."

"And, we went to his apartment afterwards," she really didn't want to get into details, so she assumed Rachel could take it from there, "and ever since then…we've been together."

"Well, I think that's great. It looks like you guys are really happy. I mean, you seem very happy, and I know Luke must be. After all, it seems like he does anything you'll say. Take these pictures; go out to dinner though he probably didn't want to go to…"

"Oh no, he wanted to go…" Lorelai said.

"And not to mention, showing signs of PDA. It's like he's a new man."

"Yeah…it's like he's a new man." Lorelai said, taking a bite of her food.

They spent the rest of their lunch talking about Rachel's work and life in New York. They talked about a few men she had dated, but how she was currently on the dating market though not really looking--at the moment.

They had a nice time and Lorelai was glad she could finally spend some time with somebody. She hadn't gotten to spend so much time with Sookie lately, and she and Luke tried to avoid the public eye.

It was nice to talk.

It was close to 10. She thought about going to bed but decided to go outside to watch the snow fall instead. It had been snowing all day and watching it made her in a good mood. She had the portable phone outside with her because she was talking to Rory before. She looked at her watch reading 9:54 and picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hi, it's me."

Luke sat up in his bed, surprised to hear her voice. "Oh…hey, hold on." He turned the TV off and walked over to sit on the couch. "Sorry."

"No problem."

There was a silence. She closed her eyes and listened to him just breathe. After a few minutes of realizing how awkward this was, she decided to talk.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Uh, not to bad. How are you? I didn't see you today."

They never really talked on the phone. People would see them be together during the day, and certain nights, but never was somebody around while they were on the phone so they never bothered calling each other.

"Fine." Her voice was still cold…still upset about the night before. "I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow we've got to do those pictures with Rachel."

"Oh crap…yeah…what time?"

"We'll come to the diner after I get out of work around 3:30. We're just going to go by the gazebo. She said it wouldn't take long so you can get back to the diner."

"Oh, well…alright, so I'll see you tomorrow then? Will you be in, in the morning?" Sad but true, he missed not seeing her over the past day. He was well aware that she was still upset about the dinner with Rachel, but he _tried_ to apologize. She was just too damn stubborn to let him say something.

"Probably not…I want to get there as early as possible so I can leave earlier for the pictures."

"Oh," she could tell he sounded disappointed, "alright well I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yep, bye."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and watched the snow fall for a few more minutes before going inside.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was exactly 3:30 the next afternoon when Rachel came down from her room to find Lorelai who was sitting at the front desk flipping through a magazine.

"Hey." Rachel said, greeting her.

"Oh hey! God, I'm so glad you came down, I was getting so bored and my master over here," she said pointing to Michel, "thought I was annoying for some strange reason."

"Oh, please." Michel said from the computer as Rachel just laughed.

"So, ready?" Lorelai asked.

"As long as you are."

"Great, let's go. Michel, I'm leaving."

"As if I couldn't tell…"

"Didn't think ya could. I'll see you tomorrow."

She grabbed her purse from underneath the desk and they headed out to the car.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

They got to Luke's a few minutes later and sat at the counter while they waited for him to come out of the kitchen. He walked out and noticed them right away and walked over to them.

"Hey." He leaned over and gave Lorelai a kiss as Rachel admired the scene from her seat.

"Hey, you almost ready?" Lorelai asked.

"Let me grab my coat."

As Luke put on his coat, they all began to walk across the street towards the gazebo. It was snowing very lightly, but there was a good 8 inches or so on the ground. Perfect for the pictures.

"So, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"Don't worry. They won't all be of you. And though I'll probably take a lot, that's just cause I'm a photo freak, but I won't use all of them…probably just a few. But I've got to get enough to have a good selection."

"Fine by us, right?" Lorelai said turning to Luke.

"Okay, let's see…I never actually want you guys to look directly at me. These are supposed to look natural, so that's what we're aiming for."

Luke walked over to Lorelai and whispered. "God this is weird."

"You're telling me." Lorelai said laughing a little.

"Meaning…you guys are going to have to look natural." Rachel said laughing at the awkward way they were standing next to each other.

"Uh, I don't know what we're supposed to do."

"Uhm, okay Lorelai walk a little," she moved her hand to the right, trying to get her closer to Luke, "okay good, now Luke put your arm," she walked over and tried adjusting Luke's arm around Lorelai's waist but it wasn't exactly working the way she planned, "here, Lorelai will you hold this for a second." She said holding out her camera, as Lorelai took it from her.

"Here, if you don't mind…" She said looking towards Lorelai who nodded her head, unaware of what she was going to do.

Rachel walked up to Luke and put his arms around her waist as she put hers around his neck and smiled faintly at him, while he smiled back. Meanwhile, Lorelai stood in the corner watching, rolling her eyes and accommodating to the feeling of her stomach. Deep with jealousy, she watched them gaze at each other.

"Like…that." Rachel said stepping away and taking her camera from Lorelai.

Fully aware, and still jealous, Lorelai walked over to Luke and pushed his hands low on her waist. She leaned on her tip toes and put her arms around his neck. She looked up at him, smiling, and he smiled back, feeling like a complete fool.

Rachel started clicking away the second they got into position. When she paused, Lorelai leaned in a little more and kicked her right leg back so that the heel of her foot was touching her butt.

"Good…" Rachel cooed from the corner, still taking pictures like crazy.

"Alright, let's see. I love profile shots. So here, Luke, stand behind Lorelai and wrap your arms around her stomach from behind. And Lorelai put your arms over his."

As they posed like that, Rachel took a few shots. Luke leaned down and Rachel thought he kissed her ear, but really, he was whispering something to her.

"Hey listen, I'm sorry about the other night."

Lorelai opened her previously closed eyes.

"I didn't mean the things I said."

Lorelai jerked her head around so she was looking at Luke, meaning to say something though Rachel thought it was an elaborate plan for the photo shot.

"Oh, that's good Lorelai."

Lorelai laughed at how unaware Rachel was. She looked up at Luke and decided to believe the guy, but not wanting to get into a heart to heart apology.

"It's okay." She said quietly enough for him to hear.

He nodded his head and kept his gaze on her as they heard Rachel form the background.

"I know this is weird, but this would be a perfect opportunity to get that kiss every photographer wants…" She said, asking with her tone of voice.

Luke leaned down and as he held Lorelai close, kissed her for a few seconds while Rachel took some pictures. After a minute, Lorelai pulled away and turned to Rachel.

"I swear to God if there are on the E-Bay…" Lorelai said smiling. "You better let me know so I can bid the highest for me and my little baby." Lorelai said playfully hitting Luke on the arm.

Good…things seemed to go back to normal.

"I'll be sure to let you know. Now, I've got all the still one's I want…so now, if you could just mess around for a few that would be great."

"Dirty!"

Lorelai leaned down and made a snow ball, then quickly threw it at Luke where it landed on his face.

"Ah, jeez Lorelai."

He leaned down and made another snowball but Lorelai ran away from him quickly. Rachel stood behind and photographed the whole thing. Giving in, Luke started chasing after Lorelai and finally got her and threw her down into the snow, then throwing the snowball at her. She crawled over and grabbed his leg, dragging him down on top of her. He leaned between her legs and she held him by the top of his coat.

"Perfect." Rachel said.

Lorelai laughed again…at her…and stared at Luke straight in the eyes. He knew the look she was giving him wasn't for the pictures. And it wasn't for the pretending.

It was the more realistic expression he had seen from her since they dated.

"Alright, I think you guys are all set."

Lorelai's eyes gazed down towards Luke's chest, almost as if she was sad their time was up. Luke quickly got up, helping Lorelai up as well.

"I've definitely got some good shots." Rachel said putting the cover on her camera. "You guys looked great."

"Good." Lorelai said, slowly walking towards Rachel, Luke close behind.

"Thank you guys so much. You really helped me out."

"Glad we could." Lorelai said.

"Well, I'm going to let you guys go for the night…I'm going to go around and take some more pictures and then head on back to the Inn."

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll be there…though I think I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I've got to get back. My article's due on Monday and I've got to write the other half, as well as get these pictures developed."

"Alright, well…I'll see you in the morning then."

"Yes, you will." She looked over at Luke. "I'm not sure if I'll see you again though."

"Oh, well…"

Rachel walked up and gave him a hug goodbye, whispering in his ear, "It was nice to see you again, Luke."

He hugged her back, whispering, "you too, Rachel. Take care."

Lorelai stood from behind watching them, thanking God that she was leaving.

This was enough jealousy to last a lifetime.

Rachel pulled away and started walking away from them.

"Bye guys." She said, turning around and waving. "Thanks again."

"No problem."

When she was out of reach, Lorelai turned to Luke.

"Well, I guess I'm going to get going."

"Oh…alright."

"So, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah…later."

She bit her lip, and smiled innocently, relieved that they had made up.

"Bye Luke."

"See ya Lorelai."

She got into her car and drove off.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

The next morning at work, Lorelai went into the kitchen to find Sookie.

"Hey."

"Oh hey Lorelai…how are you?" She said putting down her spoon.

"Tired. And this coffee isn't doing the trick."

"Well, why don't you go visit your boyfriend? I'm sure his _coffee_ will do the trick." She said, raising her eyebrows suggestively, nudging Lorelai in the side.

"You've got a dirty, dirty mind little lady."

"And nothing to do with it. Being pregnant sucks."

"Shh, don't let your baby hear that." She said pointing to the bump in her stomach.

"God, you sound just like Jackson."

"Uh, thank you?" Lorelai said, unaware if that was supposed to be good or bad.

"He's so crazy about the baby that's…not even a baby yet!"

Lorelai bit her lip. "Uh oh, what has he done this time?"

"Well, the other night I got up in the middle of the night because I had to go to the bathroom but I realized that Jackson wasn't in the bed with me…"

"Maybe he was with his mistress at the local Motel 8." Lorelai suggested.

"…so I went downstairs to the kitchen to see if he was there, because sometimes you know he has those mid-sleep brainstorms and run's to the kitchen to experiment…"

"…At 4 in the morning."

"Exactly. But he wasn't in the kitchen so I went in the living room and saw him tossing and turning on the couch."

"Ah that sneak."

"So I walked over to him and woke him up and asked what he was doing."

"Was he having dirty dreams about you?"

"No, as a matter of fact, he was sleeping down there because he said he's noticed that I've been _rolling_ in bed, and he was afraid that I'd roll right off and squish the baby, so he wanted to give me enough space without worrying that I might fall off the bed."

Lorelai tried holding back the laugh but couldn't resist. "God, what a gentleman."

"I don't know, I'm starting to get a little sick of this."

"So divorce him."

"That'd be sweet."

"He just cares about you, sweetie."

"A little _too_ much. He's actually making me have a baby shower early because he thought that the last time I had one, there was too much pre-excitement for the baby."

"You're kidding."

"No. Which is why, I want to give you this." She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the envelope that said Lorelai.

She handed it to Lorelai who ripped it open and began reading the invitation for Sookie's baby shower being thrown by _Jackson._

"Isn't someone like, oh I don't know, _me,_ supposed to throw this shin-dig for you?"

"He wants to make it perfectly safe for the baby."

"Well, consider me there…this," she took the envelope out to read the date again, "Tuesday."

"Great and the invitation's really for you and Luke! Do you think you'll be able to get him to come?"

Lorelai thought for a second. She didn't think Luke would want to come to this with her. She considered telling Sookie the truth. The truth about everything. The breakup, the pretending…everything. Sookie's her best friend…she deserves to know the truth…

"He wouldn't miss it for the world." Lorelai said smiling, kicking herself in reality.

Maybe not telling her would be better. The thought of having Luke, personally, to herself, without anyone--except for the exception of Rory--knowing they weren't _really_ together seemed best to her. She didn't want to lose the opportunity of acting the way she did around Luke without someone really knowing the truth.

Holding on to him was all she wanted most.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

As Lorelai walked back to the front desk, she wondered if Rachel was still there. She hadn't seen her all morning, but figured she was still there. She looked in the computer and saw that Rachel was still staying in her room, no signs of her leaving yet.

She liked Rachel. She really did. But she wanted her to leave. She wanted things to be normal, without a touch of weirdness with her and Luke.

But most of all, she wanted her to leave because she was jealous when Rachel was around Luke.

She then came clear with her feelings. Realizing what exactly jealousy feels like…

* * *

**First Week of September…**

"Hey." She gave him a quick kiss and let him inside.

"Hey back." Luke said walking in the house and setting the food on the table before taking his coat off and hanging it on the hanger.

"I brought food."

"Good, I'm starving."

They walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"I got the movie in already. Let me just go get some plates and forks."

Lorelai walked into the kitchen and came back with a few plates and forks for them to eat with. She set down a plate in front of Luke before setting down her Petunia Pig plate in front of herself.

"Petunia Pig?" Luke asked, reading the script on the plate.

"Oh, yeah. I just washed it actually. This is Gigi's favorite plate."

Luke's face dropped. "Oh, you were watching Gigi again?"

"Well, her and Chris stopped by today. Gigi forgot her toy from the other day and she can't sleep without it. It's crazy how kids function, isn't it?" Lorelai said laughing before putting her burger on the plate.

"I thought you said you wouldn't see him this week."

Lorelai looked up, confused but then thought for a moment. "Oh, who Chris?"

"Yeah, Chris. I mean you were with him just about all of last week…"

Suddenly aware of where this was headed, she tried to make things better before they took a turn for the worse. "I told you I was helping with Gigi. Which reminds me, do you know I, Lorelai Gilmore, am the proud woman whom taught Gigi how to say momma? Of course she doesn't call me momma, well sometimes, but only when I talk in that annoying voice that Sherry probably cooed to her before the bimbo jumped on a plane and left."

Luke rolled his eyes and looked away. "No, I didn't know."

"And the other day, oh gosh, it was the funniest thing- the other day Chris and I were in the living room talking and Gigi tried running, cause for some reason she thought that would work better, over to us and she tripped, and I know that's a horrible thing for me to say, that I thought it was funny, but the poor innocent little girl didn't know any better…"

"Are we going to watch the movie or what?" Luke said hastily.

"What's the matter with you?" She said a little harsher than intended.

"Nothing."

"Luke," she said quietly, scooting closer to him and putting her hands around his waist, "what's the matter?" She kissed him softly, first on the cheek, then moving closer to his lips, wanting to figure out why the sudden attitude and she knew hostility wouldn't get her those answers.

"Nothing." He said quietly.

He thought telling himself that would make it the truth.

"Luke." She tightened her grip around him. "Talk to me."

He turned and stared at her straight in the eyes. "I haven't seen you much lately. You've been busy with the Inn, and when you're not at the Inn, you're constantly with Christopher and Gigi. You've seen Christopher more than you've seen me lately." It came out selfish sounding, but he didn't care. It was the truth, and after all, she was the one who asked.

"He hasn't been around that much." She said flatly.

"Oh please. He's been around for the past few weeks. You've been spending all your free time with him and the baby. Can't he take care of her by himself? I mean look at you, you raised, probably the greatest kid I know all by yourself, and that was when you were sixteen. Don't you think he can do it by himself?"

"Of--of course I think he can. But I think that me helping him and spending time around Gigi is only for the better. She loves having me around."

"Yeah, well so does Chris." He shot.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know half of the reason that Chris is coming here is because he wants to see you. If that wasn't the case, he would have hired a babysitter a long time ago. But instead he wants to be with you."

"Christopher doesn't want to _be_ with me. He knows I'm sweet to his kid, and he likes having somebody he knows around. Chris and I have a past, ya know, we're friends too."

"Believe me Lorelai, I _know_ you guys have a past. I'm reminded every time I see him, or hear his name. It's pretty obvious that he wants more from you than the role of a babysitter though."

"Luke." She said warningly.

"I don't think you guys should be spending so much time together."

It was now that she realized that this was all because Luke was jealous. Jealous of Christopher spending so much time with Lorelai. And who knows, maybe it was because he was afraid that something would happen with the two of them.

"You don't trust me." She accused.

Luke swung his head up and looked at her. "It's not you I don't trust."

"You think that Christopher is going to make a move. That suddenly he's going to call me Carol, and I'll call him Mike, and we'll be together, with our happy little family…with Rory, and Gigi, and who knows maybe we'll find another 4 to make the bunch complete."

"That's not what I said."

"Well then what is it you're trying to say?"

"I've seen you guys before. When he came back around Sookie's wedding. I know what happened with you. Miss Patty doesn't have the quietest mouth. I heard what happened with you two, and I know how hurt you were. The guy doesn't necessarily bring out the goodness in you. He hurt's you. And now, here he is again. He's trying to start something with you Lorelai even though he knows I'm your boyfriend. He knows you're not single, which only raises the stakes higher. He's testing your limits. And he's pushing you over the edge. You don't know it, but he's slowly trying to ease his way back into your life, and you're sitting there, letting him."

"That's not true at all. Me helping Chris is nothing more than a friendly act, Luke. And he knows I'm with you. He's not trying to get in the way of us. He knows how happy you make me."

"Well fine, but you know what. I'm just going to say this, and you don't have to listen to me, because chances are you won't. But I'm just going to say this out loud, for anyone to hear…consider it a friendly warning…I don't think you should be spending your time with Christopher."

"You can't tell me who I can and cannot see."

"I know I can't. And I'm not. I'm just saying, I _think_ you shouldn't. You've been around him long enough. I know what's going to wind up happening…"

"What? Huh, Luke? Since you seem to be Mr. Fortune Teller himself, tell me, what's going to happen?"

"Nothing. Just turn on the movie already."

"No, come on tell me."

"I'm not going to continue this with you. Turn on the movie or else I've gotta go."

Lorelai picked up the remote and sat up on the couch, arm pressed against Luke's as she pressed play.

They watched the first half of the movie without saying a word. Lorelai at some point grabbed a hold of Luke's hand and was holding it ever since.

Neither of them were paying attention to the movie, but they didn't want to turn it off.

"It's not you I don't trust." He said blandly and quietly, looking straight ahead.

Lorelai squeezed his hand a little tighter.

* * *

Now she suddenly realized what wanting somebody to leave felt like.

Though her personal learning experience wasn't nearly as bad as Luke's.

As if on cue out of consideration, Rachel walked down the stairs, luggage in hand.

"Hey, Lorelai, great! I'm so glad I caught you!"

"Oh, Rachel, are you leaving?"

"Yeah…it's my time. But I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left."

"Good, good. I'm glad you could find me!" She felt that being nice would outlive her guilty feelings of wanting Rachel to leave.

"Well," she put down her bags and grabbed the key from her pocket, "here's the key."

Lorelai took the key from her and walked around to give her a hug goodbye.

"It was so great seeing you again!"

"You too. Thank you so much for everything."

She pulled back and smiled politely.

"We were glad we could help. Now," she hit her playfully on her arm, "don't be a stranger."

"I won't, I won't. I'll come visit you guys sometime before the next 4 years…who knows, maybe you and Luke will be married by then!"

Lorelai raised her eye brows, and nodded. "Maybe…"

"So thanks again."

"Of course."

"And, I'll keep in touch with you guys." She took a business card off the front desk. "I've got your number."

"Take care, Rachel."

She smiled and nodded. "You too, Lorelai. And take care of Luke…like you have been doing."

"I will."

She watched Rachel leave. She actually went to the window and watched her drive off, just to make sure she was actually leaving. Not that she wanted her to leave, though well, she did, but just because she wanted to see her leave for good, before the pounds fell off her shoulders.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"…and then when he left, he turned to her and said if you ever think you're sleeping with me again, you must be kidding."

Lorelai called to Luke in the back who was getting something from the kitchen.

It was close to 10 and Lorelai was the only one in the diner. She had stopped by close to 8 and was doing some work while she sat and enjoyed her coffee.

As he came out from the kitchen, smiling, she finished the last sip of her coffee. It felt good being there. They were getting along without anybody watching. And that's all she wanted from this. To be able to get along with him.

"Well, I should get going."

Luke glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing.

"I'll walk you home."

Before she could respond he was putting his coat and scarf on.

"It's late outside." He said as she watched him.

"Fine by me."

They walked outside, close to each other, enjoying the silence of the night. As they approached Miss Patty's, they saw her standing outside smoking a cigarette.

"Luke, Lorelai, isn't it a little late for you to be out?"

"He's just walking me home, Patty." Lorelai said smiling politely.

Luke grabbed a hold of Lorelai's hand as she leaned in closer to him.

"Well you kids have a nice night."

"Thanks, you too."

As they got closer to Lorelai's house, the snow came down quicker. By the time they reached the door, they were both covered in snow.

"Come in for a few minutes so you can dry off."

"Well, alright."

They walked inside the house and went directly to the kitchen.

"Want some tea?"

"That'd be great."

She began making the tea as Luke hesitantly took a seat at the kitchen table. They hadn't been alone much…not ever since the break up of course. And though they were pretending, nobody was around to notice that they weren't together at night.

As the tea finished, Lorelai poured two glasses and set them down at the table. She opened the fridge and took out a pizza box and a plate from the cupboard.

She walked back to the table and set it down. It was the Petunia Pig plate, and it caught Luke's attention right away, though Lorelai didn't seem to notice as she happily set a piece of cold pizza on the plate.

"So listen," she looked up and smiled, "Sookie's having a baby shower Tuesday…I sort of told her that you would come. So, I was hoping that you would."

For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off the plate. He was thinking about everything that had happened between them. The first time Lorelai lied to him about where she was, the first time that Christopher was over at her house with Gigi, the time that they had a fight over Christopher, the very same time that the Petunia Pig plate was used…the night that they broke up…and it was as if he couldn't take it anymore.

He threw his cup down on the table and stood up, putting his coat back on which was draped over the chair next to him.

"This is beginning to be too much for me."

He pushed in his chair and headed towards the walkway of the kitchen.

"I can't do this pretending crap anymore."

Before Lorelai could even get a word in, she heard Luke slam the door behind her.

She walked quickly to the door, intending on chasing after him and asking him what happened back there, but by the time she got to the door, she saw his shadow disappear around the block.

Just to make sure he was out of sight though, she opened the door and stepped out, realizing it had stopped snowing.

She crossed her arms and sighed loudly before heading back upstairs.

She walked into her room and quickly got out of her clothes, rummaging for something to wear in her closet.

Then, she came across _it._ The shirt that she had grown accustom to. The shirt that she practically lived in. The shirt that brought back all the old memories.

She slid out of her pants and current shirt, replacing them with his blue flannel button up shirt, only.

She slowly walked back downstairs to clean up the mess she left in the kitchen. She put the cups of unfinished tea in the sink, and walked back to put the pizza box in the fridge.

She grabbed the plate and set that in the sink, then realizing which plate it was.

* * *

**A/N 2:** So…don't hate us. We have good intentions, scouts honor. We're just as big of JavaJunkies as you all are. Happy New Year! 


	5. The Kiss

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a nice holiday! So: here is the fifth chapter for you. We hope you enjoy it! There's a lot of action going on so beware! It may seem slightly OC for certain parts, but what's fun about normality? Here's the chapter a lot of you have been wondering about. Finally, your questions are being answered! Thanks for all the great feedback! We're both _so_ glad you guys are enjoying the story! Please review, we love to hear from you guys! Let us know what you think…especially of this chapter! Have fun, and attention: it's long!

(PS-Just to let you guys know, currently, it's late November/beginning of December)

* * *

**Chapter 5: "The" Kiss**

Meanwhile, Luke was furiously walking down the street. He had his head down, gripped hands, and was mumbling things to himself. He looked up to see where he was when he looked at the street sign; apple.

"God damn, stupid fruit streets!" He said aloud as he turned around after realizing he went in the completely wrong direction after leaving Lorelai's. He turned around and headed back towards her house, only so he could get to the other side of the block.

He quickly walked past Lorelai's house, hoping she wouldn't see him outside, and before getting away successfully, he heard a voice call his name.

"Oh Luke, sweetie, what are you doing out here, it's absolutely freezing!"

"Funny you should ask…you're out here too." He said walking up to Babettes front steps.

She was lying on a blanket on the porch with Maury who looked like he was asleep.

"Right, but I've got a big, strong man to protect me from the cold…not to mention, we have a blanket. We're actually sleeping out here tonight, great stars."

"Well, that's great, really, just great. Goodnight Babette." He continued walking past Babette's house.

"Uh, Luke?" Babette called.

He turned around and walked back to her. "What?"

"Lorelai's house is that way sweetie." Babette said pointing her finger at Lorelai's house.

"I know, I'm--"

"Losing your mind, I know. You know sweetie, you really are a smart man."

"Huh?"

"Preparing in advance. It's always a good thing."

"What are you talking about?" He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"You didn't bring your truck. You knew you guys would be drinking--which, hey, what's a better way to get 'in the mood'," she raised her eyebrows, "so you didn't bring the car. Drinking and driving is a horrible thing."

"Aint that the truth." Maury mumbled from the ground.

Luke stood standing with his hands on his hips ready to speak but she kept going.

"Though walking isn't the best idea. And where exactly are you going? Did Lorelai send you out on an errand?"

"Babette, I'm not going back to--"

"That girls crazy. Now come here Luke."

She got up from the blanket with Maury and walked down the steps to Luke. She put her arm around him and walked him towards Lorelai's front door.

"There you go. Now go in there and tell her you'll get more liquor tomorrow, doll. Remember, drinking isn't necessarily _the best_ thing, though it's pretty damn good." She patted him on the back and left him alone.

"Stupid people!" He said quietly to himself as he watched Babette go back to the porch. Realizing that she wasn't going back inside, he decided to walk into Lorelai's house. After all, she'd probably get suspicious if she saw him knock.

* * *

**Third Week of September**

It was around 4 when Miss Patty, Babette, Gypsy, Andrew, and Kirk...who came just in time before getting scolded by Patty were drinking coffee at the dance studio.

Patty decided to hold off on the dance lessons for the day because this was a much more serious problem.

"Now. As we know, we've come to a serious matter..." Patty began.

"Yes I know. Cat Kirk has done it again..."

"What has Cat Kirk done, Kirk?" Babette asked out of curiosity.

"He's peed on the carpet. And my mother says if he does it one more time, he's out of there. And, uh, I'm going with him."

"It's about time, Kirk. That stupid cat of yours deserves to be dead already." Gypsy pointed out.

"Now, now folks. We're not here to talk about Kirk and Cat Kirk. We'll save that for another time. This is a much more serious matter."

"It is at that." Babette said.

"Well then what is it?" Andrew asked, annoyed. "I've got a store to attend to, ya know?"

"We know that Andrew. But I'm afraid business can wait. We've came across some...suspicions lately."

"Yes we have..." Babette said, taking a sip of her coffee and shaking her head. "It's so unfortunate too."

"Well you see, over the past few days, Babette and I have noticed some things about Luke and Lorelai."

The crowd moaned in frustration.

"Why can't we let them have a normal relationship?" Andrew asked.

"Now Andrew, what would be the fun in that?" Patty lit a cigarette and waved it in front of him. "Without us, who knows where those two would be right now."

"Down the drain if you ask me." Gypsy mumbled.

"Anyways, we've noticed a few things about them. They're way less 'together' lately--"

"I know." Kirk interrupted. "Yesterday...or maybe it was the day before that," he paused, thinking carefully, "yes; it was the day before yesterday...I was at the diner, close to the five o'clock hour. I was dining at Luke's, normal ham on rye, when Lorelai walked in. She looked a little flustered, so naturally, being the kind guy that I am, I asked, 'Lorelai, are you feeling okay?--"

"You weren't being kind, Kirk. That's just you. You've had a crush on Lorelai for the past 6 years." Andrew pointed out.

"You promised you wouldn't mention that in front of anybody. Especially these two." Kirk pointed his fingers to Patty and Babette.

"Like we didn't know?" Babette said.

"Anyways, on with the story. I asked, 'Lorelai, are you feeling okay? You look a little red in the face.' Well, apparently she wasn't," he shook his head, looking extremely sad. "She said not to mess with her or else something about her lawn guy shoving his main tool up my...well, you get the idea."

"His hose up ya ass, darlin." Babette said so kindly.

"Thank you for clearing that up. So then, she sat at the counter and Luke came up to her. I noticed he didn't give her a kiss hello, so I said something along the lines of, 'Hey Luke, why didn't you kiss your girlfriend hello?' And he threatened to kick me out before leaning down and giving her a kiss, one much like a kiss I may give to my mother before bed."

"Now that's a nice mental image." Andrew said, rolling his eyes. "So what do you want us to do about it?"

Miss Patty continued speaking. "I thought that since we all love them so much, that for the best of them, we should make schedules...where we observe them...and if we notice anything weird, we could mention something."

"Maybe they're breakin up." Gypsy started, "Maybe Mr. Cocky finally got a taste of his own medicine. That or Lorelai finally realized who she was sleepin with."

"Aw now come on, those two have loved each other for 8 years. We can't watch them fall apart over--well let's face it--probably nothing serious." Babette said.

"Exactly." Patty continued. "Which is why I think we should do the following," she pointed her cigarette to the person she was talking to, "I'll watch them on Mondays...Andrew, you've got Tuesdays, Kirk you're on Wednesdays, Gypsy...Thursdays, and Babette, you're on Fridays."

"Wednesdays, huh?" Kirk thought. "Yes, I believe I'm free. Though I applied for the cat-petting job at the local animal hospital, so that may conflict a bit, assuming I get the job."

"You know what they say when you assume, Kirk." Gypsy said hastily.

"No, actually I don't."

Gypsy rolled her eyes. "Is that all, I've got to get back to my shop."

"Me too." Andrew said.

"Once you guys sign this document." Patty handed them a sheet of paper. After mumbling things to themselves and rolling their eyes, Andrew and Gypsy agreed to keep their eyes out for Luke and Lorelai on said days. Though they thought it was crazy, it was better than arguing with Patty or Babette.

Kirk happily signed, as well as Babette and Patty.

As Kirk, Andrew, and Gypsy left the studio, Miss Patty looked over to Babette.

"God, we're good." Patty said laughing.

Babette nodded her head in agreement. "Aint that the truth."

* * *

He put his hand on the door knob, and opened it up before trying to come up with a stupid escape route.

He walked in just as Lorelai was prancing past the door to go to her room. She turned around abruptly, stunned to see he was back. She looked down at herself and observed her attire…his plaid shirt, nothing else. How sketchy that must look.

She swallowed and looked up at him, guiltily, as she watched his eyes roam up and down her body.

"It's laundry day." She said pathetically. After a few moments of him not answering, she spoke again. "What are you doing back here?"

He walked past her and sat on the couch.

"I've got to sleep here. Stupid people in stupid Stars Hollow," he began, taking his coat off and throwing it on the chair. "I was on my way back to the diner, and I realized that I was going the wrong way. So I turned around and walked back past Babettes house and she and Maury are sitting out there like a couple of lunatics. I tried telling her that I was going back to my apartment but she thought that I was drunk! She thought you and I had been drinking, and having sex, because after all, 'what better way is there to get in the mood?' So she guided me over here and told me to tell you that I'm not getting any more liquor tonight!" He said, angrily, talking a breath after his rant.

"I…uh, didn't want any more liquor, thanks."

"I wasn't going to get any!" He shouted.

She walked over and sat on the chair putting his coat over her bare legs.

"So what was that about having to sleep here?"

"Well she and Maury are sleeping outside tonight! So I can't go out there now because she'll probably think I'm a psycho and call the cops on me, afraid that I might hurt myself or something ridiculous like that!"

Lorelai walked over to the arm of the couch that Luke was sitting next to and sat on it apprehensively.

"Well, I'll go get you some blankets…psycho."

She began walking up the stairs when she heard Luke say something.

"I'm sorry about before." He said quietly, referring to when he stormed out. He didn't _really_ want to stop pretending because he didn't _want_ to leave Stars Hollow…or Lorelai.

She nodded her head and continued walking up the stairs to get some blankets.

She came down a few minutes later with the blankets and the two pillows that Luke used to sleep on. He recognized them right away from the pillow cases. They made the bed, and when it was finished, both sat on the couch.

"Did you say hi to fluffly and furry?" She said looking over at the pillows she previously named.

"I was actually saving that for later…" Luke said sarcastically.

"Remember when I couldn't decide if I wanted fluffy to be fluffy, or furry to by furry?"

"I remember."

"White…" she thought for a moment, "reflects the name fluffy so much better. Gray is definitely Furry's color."

"I remember you made me do eenie-meanie-minie-mo to decide which got what name."

"…And you didn't even know how the rhyme went."

"I didn't. But you did teach me it."

"I sure did!" She said smiling proudly at her tactics, "Say it for me."

"No."

"Aw, come on Luke, you big party pooper." She hit his arm playfully.

"You promised you'd stop calling me party pooper after that night…"

"Ah yes. The night that you so casually pooped on my modeling party at the mall. I swear…I can never try clothes on in front of you."

"Sorry but I didn't need 20 other men undressing my girlfriend with their eyes."

She laughed at the memory of the time at the mall with him. "I tried on _one_ cocktail dress."

"That could be considered a wash cloth. Did you see the amount of fabric used to make that dress?"

"Of course I did. I tried it on…"

"It hardly went below your butt."

They laughed together at the memories. Sharing happy moments like this was wonderful. Getting along so great, even though they just had a fight a mere 20 minutes ago.

"We had some good times…" Lorelai said quietly.

"Yeah, we have." Luke said equally as quiet. "Well, I'm going to go to bed now."

She looked up and smiled. "Goodnight."

Before she could turn her head to get up, she felt Luke's lips on hers, kissing her quickly.

She looked at him, surprised that he would kiss her when they were in private.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I'm just so used to kissing you goodnight. Blame it on instincts." He said hoping she'd understand.

She understood more than enough.

Before he could get another word in, Lorelai's lips were pressed hard against his. Her hands were placed loosely on his thighs.

Everything in her body told her to continue kissing him. She wanted this more than just about anything. To be with him again, in an intimate way, but her head told her to stop. She pulled away quickly before her tongue did otherwise.

She looked at him for a long moment. She examined his face. Wanting to see if he was disappointed, mad, happy, sad…She wanted to know if he'd say something. Do something to stop her from his sexual tension taking over, but he didn't say a single thing, and his plain expression read absolutely nothing.

She had no idea what to do.

She looked down at her hands on his thighs and swung her head back up.

"Oh hell." She muttered out loud before pressing her lips against his again. This time everything was moving quickly. Her head was spinning as her tongue entered his mouth for the first time in weeks. Her body collapsed at his touch as his hands worked there way around her waist, pulling her closer to his body.

She didn't refuse. She lifted her hands from his thighs and placed them around his shoulders. She lifted herself up and threw herself on his lap, straddling his legs. She moaned at his gentle touch around her waist, as she moved herself closer to his body if that was possible.

This was everything she had dreamed of doing. And being as close as possible to him was all she wanted.

As she continued kissing him furiously, she took her hands and grabbed Luke's which were on her sides. She wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and leaned closer in again, pressing her chest against his and her hands pushing his hat onto the floor.

They continued sitting there making out like a pair of crazy teenagers for a few minutes, staying in the exact same position. After a few minutes, Lorelai broke away and looked up the stairs. Luke watched her every move, not once giving her a negative look.

She got off of his lap and stood in front of him. She leaned down, kissing him again, and pulling him up from the couch, not once losing contact with his lips.

He securely wrapped his arms around her waist yet again as she walked backwards towards the stairwell, climbing slowly but steady up the stairs. As they continued their feverishly acts, she started quickly unbuttoning his flannel shirt and knocking it off his shoulders as it fell on the stairs.

She continued backing up the stairs, clearly aware of where the night was headed.

She made it to her room and pressed Luke against her closed door. Never once taking her lips off of his, she released one of her hands from his shoulder and searched for the door knob. After a few seconds of failure, but not wanting to open her eyes, or even take her mouth away from Luke's because the way he was kissing her at the moment made her practically melt, she got the door open.

She pushed him on her bed and climbed on top of him. Since the time she pressed her lips against his while pulling him off the couch, she never took hers off of his. His kisses made her feel special, wanted, desired.

Luke pulled away from her and as he groped her sides and bottom, kissing her neck in tons of different places. She worked her hands down to his pants and started undoing his belt, her nails beginning to work their way under his jeans.

"God, it's been so long." She said messing with the buckle.

It was then that Luke snapped out of the phase. He removed his lips from her neck and looked at her as if she was crazy. He pushed her off of him, carefully, but suddenly, and stood at the foot of the bed.

"What are we _doing?_"

She looked at him, amazed he was backing away. Utterly hurt, she looked at him sadly.

"We were being intimate with each other again." She said simply, as if he was supposed to know. Which, he was.

"We can't do this. We can't be together like this. We broke up for a reason you know! How are we supposed to just forget that? It's not like we're _really_ together!"

"We…we aren't Luke." She had no answers. No answers at all.

She rubbed her hand against her neck where his lips previously were, wishing she could be on top of him again as he kissed her.

"We can't keep doing this, Lorelai! We can't keep pretending."

"But Luke--"

"No. We can't. What do you expect? To pretend for the rest of your life? Don't you want to be able to move on?"

"I don't want to move on." She said quietly, looking down.

After all, it was the truth.

"Well you can, because I'm going to. I can't keep doing this with you. I know I said it before, but I mean it this time. I'm done with the pretending crap."

He walked down the stairs and kicked his shirt off the step. He turned the light out in the hall and laid on the couch, rubbing his eyes and sighing.

Meanwhile Lorelai, stunned at what had just happened, walked slowly to her door and peered down into the living room. The lights were off and Luke was on the couch.

As badly as she wanted to go downstairs and lay on top of him, kissing him softly until he fell asleep, apologizing for everything and just being with him, she knew the idea was pure fantasy. Never in a million years could that happen.

She walked to her bed and turned the lamp off beside her. She crawled under her covers, sleeping on the far left side of the bed where they hadn't quite reached.

She tried falling asleep as quick as possible, not wanting to think about a thing that had just happened, but that was also just a fantasy.

To forget something so easily…only miracles could grant that.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was close to 2 am when Lorelai finally gave up on trying to fall asleep. From the second she got under her covers until now, all she could think about was Luke and what had happened only hours before. She could still feel his lips on hers and often she'd brush her fingers across her lips just to make sure she was imagining this all. He really wasn't there. Her thoughts were coinciding to the fact that she didn't really believe he was there in the first place…on her couch.

So she got up and put her robe on cause the flannel wasn't enough. She creeped out of her room and down the stairs, walking quietly over to the couch.

Sure enough, he was there.

She almost wished that he wasn't. Because that would mean everything that happened before was just a dream. Though she wouldn't take back being with him for those minutes if she could, her thoughts were still too confusing.

Coffee could do the trick.

She walked to the kitchen after watching him for a few minutes and made a pot of coffee. After patiently waiting for the coffee to finish, she poured herself a cup and started walking towards the stairs when she caught something from the corner of her eye.

It started snowing again.

She took it as a sign. She retreated back over to the chair across the couch and sat down. She sat on her knees, facing the window, and watched the snow for a few minutes before hearing something.

She turned around and saw Luke turn over on his side, facing away from her. She watched his blanket fall off of him and walked over to the floor, picking it up.

She placed the blanket on him careful not to wake him and sat back on the chair.

Watching him sleep reminded her of all the good times…

* * *

**Last Week of July**

It was close to 10 pm. Lorelai was by herself in the darkened diner downstairs attempting to make Luke tea. Luke had been sick for the past day and spent most of his time in bed while Lorelai attended to him just about the whole time.

She stayed at his house the night before, not evening really caring if she caught whatever he had, fed him breakfast, lunch, dinner, and spent all her other free time by his side, talking, watching TV, sleeping, whatever it may be.

She walked back upstairs, tea in hand, and kicked the door open. She walked over to Luke who was on the far right side of the bed. She sat down on the edge of the side of the bed next to him and gave him the tea.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." He took the tea from her and took a sip before putting it on the bedside table.

Still sitting next to him, she leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek, sitting back up afterwards.

"Luuuuke…"

"Yeah?"

She leaned down again, hands assembling the buttons on his shirt, and gave him another kiss on the cheek. This time she laid her upper half on his as her legs stayed grounded to the floor.

She pressed her left cheek to his right, whispering in his ear. "I have a secret."

"What?" He kissed her ear causing her to shiver.

"You know that soup I made you?" This time she kissed the top of his ear.

"Yeah? The most amazing soup I've ever had?"

"That's the one."

"What about it?"

"Well…I didn't make it like I said I did…"

"No!" He said pretending to be shocked. "You liar."

"I'm sorry!" She sat up and looked down at him. "I went to the Inn and Sookie had it made! So I took some and…well…my original plan was to feed you Campbell's because it's mmm-mmm-good, but…I thought you'd appreciate Sookie's better."

"Very thoughtful thinking of you. You know, if you made soup, I'd probably be even sicker."

She hit his chest playfully. "That's not nice."

She leaned down one last time and gave him another kiss before getting up and walking to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"So, want to watch a movie?" She asked walking back to the same spot on the bed as before.

"Actually…I'm getting pretty tired. I thought I would just go to sleep."

"Alright…here," she pulled the covers over the rest of his body and leaned down to give him a kiss goodnight. "Goodnight babe."

"Lorelai…" He said as she walked over to the couch.

"What?"

"You don't have to stay here. You can go home, ya know."

"Are you saying you want me to leave?" She said acting sad.

"No, you just don't have to be here while I sleep. There's nothing for you to do."

"Well there's nothing for me to do at my house either. I'd be lonely."

"You'll be lonely here too…"

"No I won't. I'll finish up my paperwork I started earlier, maybe watch a little TV, and then crawl in bed with you. If I went home, there'd be no crawling in bed with you, would there?"

"I guess not."

"So, shush and go to sleep. I like takin care of ya."

"You're crazy. But I appreciate it."

"I know you do. Now go to sleep."

While doing her paperwork, she looked over and saw Luke sound asleep like a little baby. He always fell asleep so quickly. She put her pen and paper down and walked over to the bed, slipping out of her clothes and putting on one of the pairs of clothes she left purposely at his house. She climbed in bed and turned to him, watching him sleep.

It wasn't intended to be done in a stalker way, whatsoever, but she always caught herself doing it.

Something about the way she felt being next to him fascinated her beyond belief.

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai's eyes slowly opened adjusting to the sunlight beaming in through the windows. She recognized the fabric covering her...the blanket from downstairs. But how did it get up here to her room?

She turned around and realized she fell asleep on the chair. But when she glanced at the couch, she saw the blankets neatly folded up with the pillows placed on top of them.

Just like that he was gone.

She took her time to digest everything. As if her brain hadn't thought about it enough, she replayed last nights images through her mind. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the chair watching Luke sleep. At some point she must have fallen asleep and at the early hours of the morning, he must have put the blanket over her, cleaned up any signs that he was there, and left to go back to the diner.

With it being Saturday, she didn't have the Inn to run too. She had no where to go, and even if she wanted to go to the diner, she knew she couldn't. Not after he said that he was done pretending. Because what if she did go there, and he made a scene if she kept pretending? That would be bad. Not only would everybody know they broke up, but they'd all know that they have been pretending for the past 5 weeks.

So she slowly got up and retreated herself to her shower upstairs wanting to wash away the smell of him off of her because all it was doing was reminding her of their time spent together last night.

--------

It was a busy morning at the diner. Luke had opened about 45 minutes late because he over slept at Lorelai's. He woke up at around 5, looking around, and the first thing he saw was Lorelai sitting in the chair looking uncomfortable. He wanted to wake her and tell her that she'll have a back ache in the morning, or her neck will hurt because of the way she was sleeping on it, he wanted to warn her, inform her, look out for her, but couldn't. Not after there breakup, and not after there huge fight last night because she was no longer his...in any way, shape, or form.

The most he could do was protect her from the cold. He walked over before getting his stuff together and placed the blanket over her. He had the urge to wake her up and ask her what was going through her mind...after what had happened last night with the two of them. But he knew he shouldn't. Still angered about what happened last night, he thought it was best to leave.

Before he walked out the door, he considered going back and waking her up to tell her he'll continue pretending. But as he watched her sleep, he realized how hard it had been for him. To be with her, but not _really_ be with her. The thought of losing her forever made the pretending situation seem worth it, but after all, maybe losing her is what he needs most.

He served the customers in his normal gruff self. He was somewhat expecting her to come to the diner, because knowing Lorelai she would pretend that nothing happened last night, including him telling her that he was finished pretending. But he knew that she wasn't that stupid. She wasn't going to come in. She was going to respect his wishes and forget everything between the two of them.

The least she could do after everything was respect his wishes.

He heard the bell rang and looked up...it was Sookie. He knew that Sookie had no idea about the two of them, and it wasn't like he was going to bring it up. But Sookie hardly comes without Lorelai, so it was unusual seeing her.

"Hey Luke." She said sitting down at the counter.

"Hey Sookie."

"How are you?" She asked. "You look tired."

"I'm fine..." He said rolling his eyes. "How are you?"

"I'm just fine...really...fine." She said picking up the ketchup bottle and hitting it against the table.

"You sure? Or do you normally like slamming ketchup bottles against counters?"

"Well I'm not allowed to do this at home."

"Pick up ketchup bottles...and bang them against counters?" He asked lamely.

"Pick up anything at that matter. Jackson's afraid I'll strain a muscle, somehow then leading to harming my baby!" She snapped.

"Ah..."

"You know what happened last night? I wake up in the middle of the night...it must have been 1 or 2, so I wake Jackson up of course because…I'm bored and who the hell else am I supposed to talk to? He starts yelling at me because he hasn't gotten enough sleep in the past week, and he claims he was sleeping like a baby. As if he would know what that feels like!"

"Yeah..."

"So, after he's finished yelling at me, he starts apologizing like crazy, saying he's tired and worn out and just needs his sleep. I swear…that guy has SUCH mood swings!" She practically yelled.

"That's really too bad..."

He didn't know how to deal with her. Pregnancy hormones weren't something Luke majored in.

"But I swear, he's so sweet. I asked if he'd make me eggs, because I've really been craving eggs lately, and he got up with me and we walked to the kitchen and I sat at the table..." at this point, Sookie was sniffling, wiping the tears from her eyes with a napkin, "and watched him...make me my eggs..." all of a sudden she was literally sobbing, "and I realized how sweet he is for making me eggs at 2 am. Me, eggs, at two am." She finished, wiping her eyes yet again.

Luke sat back, afraid of the scene in front of him.

"Can I uh..." he began coughing, unaware of what to say, "Make you some eggs?"

Sookie started crying again. "That's so sweet of you. I bet you make Lorelai eggs all the time when you cook her breakfast."

"Actually I uh--"

"Speaking of Lorelai, did she tell you about the party? Are you coming with her?" She asked, still crying a little.

"Actually I'm going to have to work."

Sookie picked up the ketchup bottle again and slammed it against the counter. "What?!" She screamed.

"I'm...uh...I'm supposed to be..."

"You better be there. I invited you and it's only polite that you come."

"I know, I really, I uh, I'm sorry I'm just going to go back in the kitchen and make those eggs especially for you!" He smiled brightly at her hoping the eggs would make up for him not coming.

Sure enough it did. It brought tears to her eyes. "That's so sweet of you. Thank you so much Luke, really."

He came out a few minutes later with a plateful of eggs and toast on the side, afraid if he brought her something else, she'd get upset and cry about it.

"Here you go."

"Thanks Luke." She said quietly, looking down at her eggs. "But, I uh, I don't want eggs anymore." She made a face of disgust and pushed the plate away from her. "That's just, uck, not now....so!" She took out a piece of paper with names scribbled on it and a pen, "I'm marking you and Lorelai down for the party. I'm trying to get an estimate of people so I can make the right amount of food."

"But I uh, can't come."

"You!..." she said slamming her pen on the counter, "will be there. At 7:00 sharp with Lorelai. And if you're not, you better believe that Jackson will be on your case the next morning, do you hear me?"

He swallowed, nodding his head. "I hear you."

"Good. Now I'm going to go."

She picked up her purse and walked proudly out of the diner leaving Luke standing there amazed.

Crap, he had actually said he'd go. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Not with everybody there, watching him and Lorelai when they were supposed to be over. But Sookie...he was afraid of her...

------

Back at home, Lorelai was watching TV because she had nothing better to do. After flipping through the channels a bit, she walked over to get the phone and dialed Rory's dorm number.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey babe."

"Oh hey mom...gimme a minute." Rory walked over to her room and closed the door before sitting on her bed. "Sorry, Paris is watching one of her debates on TV and I couldn't hear."

"Oh that's alright. How's Paris doing anyways?"

"You know, she's still Paris..."

"Right, right. So, Rory...I've got to talk to you." She said turning the TV off and settling on the couch.

"I'm all ears."

"Well, you know how...you are my best friend...and my daughter...right?"

"Yes, I do believe I know that."

"And, you see...there's a difference between those two terms. A daughter is somebody I care for, someone I supply food for, and a home, and the absolute best taste in clothes."

"Right..."

"And a best friend is someone you complain to about your hair, and boys, and other friends...right?"

"Uh huh..."

"So, right now, we're going to have this conversation in strictly a best friend sort of relationship, okay? I...I need you to listen to things you're probably never going to want to hear coming from my mouth, but I really need to talk to somebody about this and it looks like you're the only one I can talk to."

"Are you okay?" Rory asked concerned.

"Just…agree with me on that okay? Best friends only, starting...now."

"Alright."

"Okay...something happened last night with Luke." She said quickly.

"Ah man, what have I gotten myself into?"

"Just remember...you're the only one that knows about Luke and I so you really are the only one I can talk with about this..."

"I know, I know...keep talking."

"Well last night, I was at the diner and we were having a good time, talking, and surprisingly, we were alone...until I realized it was getting sort of late so I said that I was going to go home when he offered to walk me. So...he walks me home, and it starts snowing on him so I invite him in to dry off and have some tea with me. So I make him the tea, and I pull out a box of pizza and a plate for me, and then all of a sudden he goes Mr. Freeze on me and gets up, telling me that he's going to leave and that he's sick of pretending and that he's done with it."

"Well that was rude; you should have offered him a piece of pizza."

"Rory, seriously."

"Rar...sorry."

"So, I go upstairs and change into...uh, his flannel shirt," she said quietly.

"Ah..."

"So as I'm walking back to the stairs, he walks back in the house and starts ranting about how Babette saw him walking the wrong direction, and when he turned around something about him being drunk, so she kindly directed him in the right direction of our house and he said he had to sleep over because he was convinced if he tried leaving again, Babette would call the cops on him."

Rory laughed a little before speaking. "I'm still listening..."

"So, we're talking, and I'm making the couch up for him, and were laughing about some stupid time we spent together, and then when he says he's going to sleep...he says goodnight, and _kisses_ me. Now, I know you don't want to hear this, but believe me, there's more to come, so get prepared...but anyways...it wasn't like a long, passionate kiss. It was just a quick peck goodnight."

"A peck she says..."

Lorelai ignored Rory's smirky remark. "So he starts apologizing about how he's so used to kissing me goodnight, and I just...ah, I know you're not going to want to hear this, I just wanted to...kiss him, so I did."

"Eeee..."

"Yeah...eee is right. I kissed him, and backed away to see if he was looking at me weird, or something bad like that, and he wasn't...so...I leaned in and kissed him again."

"Really wishing I didn't have to hear this..."

"Well stay tuned...because, the kiss turned into a Tale of Rory and Jess; the early years, and I know I shouldn't have just said that but I did and I'm sorry, but it's the truth. We were like a couple of crazy teenagers who haven't seen each other for a month. And I'll try and skip out on all the details that will probably make you sick, and avoid telling you about how amazing it felt to be with him again, oh oops--I just did, and all that stuff. I'll just skip to the part where I lead him up to my bedroom," she heard Rory squeeing, probably of disgust from imagining her mom bringing Luke up to her room, "and I thought...we were going to...you know, but all of a sudden, he pushed me to the side and started yelling about how we can't be doing this again, and how he's serious this time about stopping the pretending stuff, and that we're through."

"Oh, mom..."

"And I don't know what to do, Rory. I mean, last night, being with him was everything I had imagined it to be like...if we were to ever be romantically involved again...and to have him just shove me aside and tell me to move on...I don't even know what to think of that. And right now, I don't know what do about him because he left before I woke up this morning, so I don't know if we're really through with the pretending, or what he'll tell the town...all I know if what he told me."

"Which was?"

"That he thinks we should stop because we can't pretend for the rest of our lives. He told me I should move on because he said he is. And you have no idea how much I don't want to move on… how much I really want to be with him again."

"Then why aren't you going after him and stopping him? He's falling head over heels for you...he'd do anything, and with a little convincing, I'm sure you can win him back."

"It's not that Rory."

"Well how come?"

"Because, Rory. I don't get everything I want because of my hair flip…this being a perfect example. It's not that easy hun."

"Well... do you want best friend advice or daughter advice?"

"Best friend."

"Well...maybe you should just move on, mom."

"But..."

"I know you miss him. And I know you want to be with him again but...I don't know if that's going to happen from the way you sound."

"I know." Lorelai sounded disappointed.

"Was that too harsh? Do you want daughter advice now?"

"No, what I needed was that."

Rory heard a knock on the door and Paris screaming at her to get off her cell phone because a very important part of the debate was coming on.

"Mom?"

"Yeah kid?"

"I hate to do this to you but I've got to go."

"Alright."

"But, I'll call you back in a little bit..."

"K, bye Rory."

"And mom?"

"Uh huh?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, babe."

"Bye."

Lorelai hung up the phone and threw it to the side then saying, "goodbye."

Maybe moving on is what she needed. Just maybe.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

By the time Tuesday night rolled around...Lorelai had still not seen or talked to Luke. She had successfully avoided him, and though missed him terribly, thought maybe she could do this. Not see him. And maybe it would be okay because the town just might not notice. But that's a damn lie because people in Stars Hollow amaze you. They are much more observant than you'd think.

It was close to 6:45 when Lorelai arrived at Sookies. She came a little early hoping that she could help out last minute but leave it to Sookie and Jackson to have everything done...and early.

Sookie was putting the last touches on the food while Lorelai sat at the table nibbling on something Sookie had made.

"Everything looks great sweetie...really."

"Are you sure? Cause I feel like there's too much pink."

Lorelai looked at the food arrangements on the table and saw not one piece of pink anything...beside the one thin border line on the white napkins.

She narrowed her eyes and turned to Sookie.

"I think the pinks just fine, really."

The doorbell rang and Lorelai offered to go greet the guests. Babette and Maury got there first, followed by Patty, Michel, Kirk, Lulu, Andrew and his wife, and a few friends from the Dragonfly.

Everyone got there by about 7:15 and the party started right then.

The food was out, music playing in the background, and not to mention, the huge punch bowl which was just about 99 alcohol and the other liquor sitting behind it.

By 7:30 just about everyone was already singing show tunes...flirting with each others husbands and wives...and such forth except for Sookie on behalf of the baby she was representing in her stomach.

They all sat around the living room, talking and sharing stories about the fact that they wanted kids.

"I always thought that I'd get knocked up by my first husband...we were always the most...well, you know how it is...but, that never happened!" Patty said laughing hysterically at whatever she and the rest of the party thought was amusing.

Sookie sat back and laughed at how drunk everybody was.

"Well, I..." Lorelai said, taking a sip of one of her many martinis of the night, "can't even tell you what it's like. Well, too bad I have a horrible long term memory because we all know it was so long ago that I birthed Lory--"

"It's Rory sweetie..." Sookie corrected.

"Light, Lory." She slurred, laughing at herself. "I remember I was more worried about never sleeping with another guy then having Lory in the first place."

"Lulu and I are actually trying to reproduce." Kirk said out loud.

Everybody just about coughed up their drink, except Kirk and Lulu.

"Thatta boy, Kirk. I always knew you had it in you!" Lorelai punched him in the arm which was her friendly way of saying congratulations because right now, the thought of saying such a long word hurt her head.

"Maury and I are strictly cat people...aint we darlin?" Babette asked, turning to Maury who was taking some strange shot of whiskey with Jackson and Andrew.

"Uh huh." He mumbled.

Sookie got up laughing and everybody turned to see where she was going.

"Where ya goin honey?" Lorelai asked attempting to stand up but gravity wasn't acting very friendly.

"You sit down. I'm going to get all you crazy drunk people more food."

By 8:00, the party was still kicking. Everyone was still drinking, which seemed to be a comedy hour for Sookie who was enjoying watching everybody be crazy.

Lorelai, Babette, Lulu and Patty were playing a round of Twister. Lulu and Lorelai were the last two standing. They supported on each other for balance because if somebody tapped them with even a stick, they'd probably collapse.

When it was Lorelai's turn to move, she kicked her foot to hard and took down both her and Lulu. They laid on the ground laughing hysterically.

"You're really flexible...do you know that?" Lorelai asked.

Kirk butted in. "I know that real well."

Lorelai started laughing and covering her ears. "Kirk, I swear to God the next time you mention anything having to do with you and Lulu in bed together, my foot and your ass are going to become real close friends." She said sitting up and looking around the room, resting her head on the back of the couch from sudden dizziness.

"We are quite the party people, dontcha think?" Lorelai said to everyone as they all mumbled a yes, or nodded their head and got back to whatever they were doing.

Around 8:10, Luke walked in the door and absolutely nobody noticed. He watched from the door as every drunken person there continued what they were all doing not even hearing him come in.

'Damn.' He cursed himself for even coming in the first place. How could he possibly think that they'd all be sober? Nobody would notice if he was there or not.

He watched Lorelai from afar. He watched her laugh at whatever Lulu was saying, throwing her head back, and clapping her hands in excitement.

"Tell me more!" He heard her call out.

As he watched her and Lulu continue talking, he looked to the corner to see Andrew and his wife fighting probably about something stupid, Babette, Michel, Maury, Kirk, Jackson, and Patty talking in their own little corner while you could tell Patty was flirting with Maury and Babette didn't seem to care.

The only person he didn't see was Sookie.

"Luke!" Sookie said walking up to him from the kitchen. Nobody heard her.

He began walking towards her, and took her into the kitchen.

"Ah, a sober face!" Sookie came running up to him.

"So I take it your the only sober one here, huh?"

"There all completely trashed."

Luke took a look at the selection of drinks in front of him.

"Maybe that's why!" He pointed his finger to the table.

Sookie glanced over and laughed. "I'm just being a nice host..." she glanced at the clock realizing what time it was, "hey, you're late..." she said with a bit of anger in her voice.

"I know, I'm sorry. I got caught up at the diner and...I thought Lorelai might have told you." Bull. He hadn't talked to Lorelai but Sookie didn't know that though.

"She's been drunk since, oh I don't know about 7:20 so chances are; it completely slipped her mind. Did you go say hi to her yet?" She asked pushing him in the doorway to the living room. "Go out and say hi, I'll be out in a few minutes."

As she disappeared into the kitchen again, Luke sat at the entrance watching Lorelai who was now surrounded by all the girls. He glanced in the corner and saw Michel screaming obscene French profanity, Kirk and Andrew discussing something that looked awfully important, and Jackson talking about fruits and vegetables to nobody in-particular.

He looked over towards the girls again. They were all listening to Lorelai tell a story. He stepped a little closer so he could hear what she was saying.

"But I mean he's a completely different person when were together...a few weeks ago, we had just finished doing...the horizontal hokey pokey, and we were in bed together," there was a chorus of aw's through out the woman and his cheeks instantly turned a flush red. He was surprised nobody noticed him. He wanted to interrupt so badly, but something stopped him. "And I told him that I was cold so he got up and, ah what was it, what did he do..."

It was then that Babette noticed Luke.

"Why don't you ask the man of the hour, himself? He's standing right beyond ya, gorgeous."

Lorelai turned her head quickly and gazed up at look, smiling brightly.

"Luuuuuuke!" She cooed from the floor. She scooted over to his legs and hugged the bottom of them. "Help me up, will ya?" She lifted her arms up for him to grab and he picked her up, holding her a little while she adjusted herself.

"I misssssed you!" She jumped in his arms as he apprehensively wrapped an arm around her waist, mainly for support. She gave him several kisses on his cheek before pulling him down on the floor. "We were just talking about you, burger boy. I was telling them the story when we were in my bed and I was cold and you did the cutest bit but I can't think of what it was now...do you remember Lukey?" She said, dragging her finger on the side of his face.

He looked like a sun burnt tomato. As if saying a tomato wasn't bad enough. "No, I don't." He said coldly.

Maybe the one good thing would be that none of them noticed the anger in his voice or really...in his attitude.

He didn't want to be there. Not with her at least. Not even by her. But he had an obligation to Sookie. And Lorelai would have to be crazy to believe that he wanted to be there. Or stone cold drunk.

"Luke my boy!" Jackson called from the corner. "Get over here! We were wondering when you'd arrive!"

"We were?" Michel asked.

"Of course we were. Luke is one fine influence on how to treat a lady, aren't you Luke?" Kirk asked.

At this point, Lorelai was trying to adjust herself in his lap but he scooted her to the side and got up.

"Uh, yeah, right. Just give me a...--Sookie are you coming out here?!" He called out desperately.

"Just a sec!"

"Will you guys excuse me?" Luke asked the crowd.

A few yes' and no's were spread across the room before Luke retreated himself to the kitchen.

"It's like a frikken zoo out there!" He said to Sookie.

"Oh, I know." She started laughing. "It's really humorous too. If you ask nice enough, Kirk may sing his rendition of You Drive Me Crazy."

"Cause that's something I want to see..."

"Here. I'm fine by myself. Take a drink." She said pointing to the selection.

"Actually...I'm okay. And, you know, it's not like any of them would realize if I were here or not, so what do you say about me leaving...now."

Sookie put the knife down she was previously using to cut something and stared at him.

"And leave me with a house of drunken fools? Yeah right."

"Well, what am I supposed to do with them?"

"Hey, it's your girlfriend in there. You can go take care of her. Haven't you seen her drunk before?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And on more than one occasion."

"Well go attend to her. She'll realize if you're missing."

"But I---"

"Go." She said cutting him off and pushing him out the kitchen once again. "I'll be out in one second, promise."

"Fine. You better be."

As he walked back into the room, Lorelai asked if she could get him a drink.

"Come on Luke, you'll need it. Believe me. Check out the crowd."

Luke looked around at everybody in the room but decided to pass on the drink.

"Uh, no thanks."

"Come on Luke, here." She handed him her drink. Luke took an awkward sip of it and handed it back to her. "I'm fine."

"Fine." She took a sip of her conjunction. "You're missing out."

"That's just fine."

It was then that Sookie came in holding yet another tray of food and placed it down on the table, laughing as she looked around.

"I feel like I'm at a 6th grade dance. Why don't you men mingle with the woman? Go, scoot!" She told the guys sitting in their own table.

Everybody got up for a few minutes, refilling their drinks, getting more food, and adjusting themselves on couches and chairs.

"Much better." Sookie said looking around.

"This reminds me of this party I was once at when I was a kid." Lorelai stared before being interrupted.

"And truthfully Lorelai, absolutely nobody cares what you're going to have to say." Michel said rolling his eyes at her.

"Just because you've never been to a party besides this doesn't mean you have to ruin it for the others, Michel. Hasn't your mother taught you anything?! Anyways, I remember we were playing spin the bottle and I had to kiss this guy named Randy. Now, Randy was a nice fella...well bread, then again, who wasn't back then...and we went into my friend Claire's closet. And he told me that he'd love to one day have children with me. And all I can think is that if he was the father of Lory, wow she'd be a different kid."

"And what was the point of that story, doll face?" Babette asked.

"She wanted to spread her fertility offers of course." Patty said. "But what do you say girls...and guys. Spin the baby bottle! It's only tradition to play at a baby shower. Sookie? What do you say?"

"Oh!" Sookie clapped her hands excitedly. "I'm in!"

"Are you saying that my chances of kissing Lorelai right now are at a high stake?" Kirk asked as Lulu laughed at his comment because she was too drunk to realize how inappropriate it was.

"And if you're lucky, she won't bite you." Michel said loudly.

Lorelai pouted in return to all of this and gathered everybody around the table. Half the audience didn't care what they were doing. The other half didn't even realize.

"I'm sitting across for you, baby!" Lorelai said winking at Luke as he rolled his eyes and grumbled.

"Sookie, it's only polite if you go first." Patty guided the baby bottle that Sookie had gotten as one of her gifts on the table. Sookie, being the only sober one there besides Luke looked around the group and laughed. "This ought to be interesting."

She spun the bottle and after several moments, it landed on Jackson.

"Aw, now that's not fun." She complained walking over to Jackson and giving him a kiss before sitting down close to him and leaning against him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Lorelai looked around the table at her and smiled.

"Kirk, you're next." Sookie said to Kirk who was sitting on her other side.

"Alright folks." He leaned over and rolled up his sleeves ready for whatever may come. He turned the bottle and after a minute it landed on Patty.

"Oh no." He said, as Patty laughed hysterically.

"I uh, I think there's been a mistake. I've got a girlfriend."

"I've seen you in diapers Kirk."

"Was that necessary Patty?" He shot a look of hate towards her.

"Go do your business will ya Kirk?" Lulu asked annoyed.

He walked over and sat next to Patty. As he was about to kiss her, he pulled away, afraid. "I'm...I'm sorry. My mom just said never to do this and, well, I don't want mother to find this out." He leaned in as quick as humanly possibly and kissed Patty.

"Playboys going to be calling you, buddy." Lorelai said.

"Oh be quiet Lorelai. And it's your turn."

Lorelai leaned over the table and spun the baby bottle. For her it seemed like hours before stopping. She was getting dizzy just from watching.

Finally, it landed...on Luke.

"Aw babe look at that." She said walking over towards Luke. "We are destiny."

She sat next to him on her knees and put her arms around his waist, inching her face closer and closer as the rest of the crowd watched like they've never seen them kiss before.

Before completely leaning in, she glided her fingers lower and lower down his stomach, smiling viciously.

As she slowly got closer to his face, he put his hands on her waist and pushed her off of him.

"Get off!" He said louder than intended.

"What?!" Everybody asked.

"I don't want to kiss you!"

"Oh, my...Luke!" Patty screeched. "What's the matter? She's a beautiful young lady!"

"I don't want to kiss her because I don't like kissing my ex's...unlike some people!" He said looking over at Lorelai. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at her angrily as she looked around the room at everybody's reaction.

She attempted to stand up but her body and head disagreed with that idea.

"Wait...what?!" Sookie, the only other sober one who knew exactly but at the same time, nothing that was going on at the time, asked.

"Yeah, Lorelai's not your ex sweetie...I'm drunk but even I know _that!_" Patty said.

"Oh yes she is my ex. My ex-girlfriend of oh...how long has it been now Lorelai?" Lorelai looked down, face suddenly ultra bright red, playing with her nails and pretending she had no idea what was going on.

Being as drunk as she was didn't even help her out in this situation.

They were caught.

"She's been my ex for a good month plus...why don't you tell them why Lorelai? I'm sure they'd all be fascinated to know!"

"Luke..." she said so quietly hardly anybody--but Luke--heard her.

"Don't 'Luke' me. I told you I was done pretending. I told you from the start that I would do this but strictly because I can't afford leaving Stars Hollow. Well guess what, I'm sick of pretending. I told you that twice on Friday. I don't know how many more times I'm going to have to say it before it gets through your head, but I won't even count this as a time of telling you because you're too drunk to know what's going on. So are the rest of you. So have a nice party. I'm leaving. And don't expect to talk to me because now that everyone else knows the truth...there's no reason to pretend we're friends. Because we're not. We're far from friends. And Sookie..." he said turning to her, "have a nice party."

He grabbed his coat from the banister and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Everybody sat there, quietly looking at Lorelai who sat there, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes glancing back and forth between everybody. She was so embarrassed...humiliated...there weren't really words to describe how she felt. But now, everybody new.

Whether or not they'd remember tomorrow was a different story...but Patty has one damn good 'drunken-memory.'

You better believe the rest of the town would hear about this.

Though nobody really knew why they broke up...well...sort of. Maybe, just maybe they had the slightest idea at this point.

* * *

**Second Week of September**

"Alright, Gigi's finally asleep." Chris said walking into the living room, sitting down next to Lorelai on the couch.

"Good."

"And thanks again for letting us stay tonight. It's raining pretty hard now and the traffics probably horrible."

"Good."

"You know, I don't think I've heard you say another word since you've gotten back from your parents."

"Well, good."

"You alright?"

"Tipsy. But I'm alright."

"I can tell. Glad to see you're still the same as you were in high school." He said laughing, remembering the times they'd get drunk and spy on their neighbors from the porch.

"I'm not the same kind of girl I was in high school."

"No? Drinking, being with guys, getting into trouble." He said laughing again.

"Drinking...occasionally...but I'm no lush...being with guys...I've only got my guy...and getting into trouble...only sometimes." She said winking and hitting him on his leg, keeping her hand above his knee.

"You know Lorelai; I bet I could get all of those categories to be accurate."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just know you really well. I know how you are."

"You _knew_ how I was. You don't really know the current me."

"Prove it." He said strictly.

"Prove what?" She asked confused.

"Prove to me that you've changed. That you're no longer the same crazy girl I went out with in high school."

"Correction…_slept_ with in high school."

"We dated to you know…"

"Okay…"

"So prove it?"

"How?" She asked again, suddenly becoming angered with his games.

"I'm going to kiss you. You can back away if you want."

"You wouldn't dare." She said, tone thick with seriousness.

"So then back away. You said you changed."

"You know I'm dating Luke."

"I know. But if you're the same girl I know…"

"Why would you even _want_ to kiss me?" She asked.

"I just want to prove that I know you better than anybody else."

"And why does that even mat--" She started but was quickly cut off by his lips.

He secured his hand on the back of her head so she couldn't get out without putting up a fight. But she wasn't resisting whatsoever.

She leaned forward into him, her hand moving from his leg to his waist, grasping around him so she didn't fall on top of her. She felt his tongue run across her bottom lip, wanting to experience more and she let him. She opened her mouth, moaning quietly as his tongue entered her mouth.

As they continued for a few more seconds, Lorelai suddenly became clear with her thoughts. What in the world was she doing?! This was the most twisted thing that's ever happened in her life. This wasn't Luke. This was Christopher. Rory's father. Her ex that she was currently sucking faces with while her boyfriend probably sat upstairs alone in his apartment waiting for her to call.

How could she be the sock-woman?

She pulled away abruptly, eyes wide, and stood up, tipping over slightly before gaining her balance.

"What were we doing?!?" She practically screamed.

Chris stood up and pulled her in again.

"This." He said, kissing her passionately on the lips before pulling away.

"Are you serious right now?!" She pushed him away from him and walked towards the side of the couch.

"Christopher, I have a boyfriend!"

"I know Lor..."

"So then what was that? Why were you kissing me?!"

"You know what I did. Too prove myself right. And, correct me if I'm wrong but it certainly seemed like you enjoyed that."

"I can't believe you. I trusted you. I trusted you with my happiness. And you know I'm not a sucker for cheating. Believe me, I'm not. And to know that you knew I was happy and took complete advantage of that, ruining my happiness cause you had the urge to kiss me? That's unbelievable Chris. You're much more immature than I thought."

"If you are so pissed, why didn't you pull away quicker?"

"I don't know Chris! Maybe cause, I don't know, my alcohol level isn't necessarily at 0. Reaction time is delayed when you've got alcohol in you. Didn't you learn that from your health class? Oh wait, you were two busy shoving your tongue down some girls throat during health class, I'm sorry. And not to mention, I was stuck in the Headlock of the Year. You deserve a metal for that, mister."

"Still. You could have pulled away a little quicker...and also…I warned you. You knew I was going to kiss you."

"You know..."

He cut her off. "I wanted to prove a point to you, and me. We have history, Lor. We do. And through out everything, I think that now is the best time for us to start the something we've all wanted. Me, you, Rory..."

"Chris I'm not yours!" She screamed, practically jumping. "I'm somebody else's girlfriend! Not yours! And I hate to break it to you, but I never was yours! And over the past 5 years or so...especially right now, I haven't been yours. Don't you think that says something? Don't you think Sherry getting pregnant happened for a reason?"

"Fate doesn't always--"

"I don't want to listen to your crap. I'm over you Chris. I really am. And just because it took me an extra few moments to pull away, doesn't mean I wanna carry your next baby, hun. It doesn't." Her words weren't 100 accurate since she was a. a little drunk, and b. he did say he was going to kiss her, and she was completely aware of what happened for most of the part, but that didn't stop her from yelling. She needed him to leave, now.

"But--"

"So what I need from you is to get out of here. Now. You and Gigi both. And don't come back. Raise her on your own because I can't help you anymore. I really can't. You've crossed the line this time, Chris. You really crossed the line."

"Fine, I'm--"

"I don't want to listen to you. I want you to get the hell out of my house before I do something I really don't want to do. And besides you leaving, I've got to go talk to my boyfriend, who will hopefully still be my boyfriend after I tell him about this."

"Well if the guy loves you, he will." He said rudely, going to get Gigi from Rory's room.

"Thanks Dr. Phil, but I think I can handle this on my own."

She watched him gather his things together and left with Gigi in the pouring rain.

Poor Gigi, she thought, alone with him. That's not a safe combination.

But there was to be no more help. No more contact. No more anything. Cause he blew it.

As soon as she heard the car pull out of the driveway, she ran around the house looking for her keys.

The sooner she'd tell him, the easier it'd be. She thought over and over.

"Damnit!" She screamed while still looking for her car keys that were mystery misplaced, and no where to be found. "Screw this!"

She ran upstairs and looked on her bed but didn't find them. So she went into her closet, pulled on a baggy sweatshirt, leaving the hood on, and ran downstairs before putting on her shoes. She opened the front door, looked outside in the pouring rain and started running towards the diner, careful not to trip.

Lost in thought, she made it there quicker than figured. She walked in and just about everybody turned around and stared at her. Soaking wet and out of breath. Luke walked out of the kitchen and looked at her curiously.

"Are you okay?"

"Come outside with me!"

"Uh, I've gotta business to run, and not to mention, it's pouring outside."

She walked over the counter and grabbed his hand, dragging him with her.

"Run with me."

She glanced to see if there were any cars coming. As she took in the darkness, she grabbed his hand and ran across the street, up the stairs, and into the gazebo where it was dry.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you drunk or something!"

"Kiss me." She said strictly. He didn't move for a few moments so she threw herself against him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, pulling him closer to her.

She took her lips off of his and rested her head on his shoulder, still holding on to his waist.

"Lorelai what's this about?"

She backed away, suddenly not wanting to be so close to him and covered her mouth. She couldn't say it. She couldn't hurt him. She wanted to close her eyes, so she wouldn't see his look of disappointment and sadness, but she didn't. She took her hands off of her mouth and put them in the front pocket of her sweatshirt.

"Luke, something happened."

"What? What happened? Was it Rory? Is she--"

"It's not Rory, Luke."

"Well will you tell me so I don't have to have another heart attack?"

"I...I can't...I can't even--"

"What is this Lorelai?" He said, looking angrier, taking a step closer to her only so she could back away once more.

She stood there trying with all her might not to cry. She bit her lip and titled her head, staring at him oddly. How could she hurt him?

"Fine, listen. I'm going to go. I've got a diner to run. I guess this can wait." He started walking towards the steps when he heard her speak.

"Chris kissed me!" She blurted out.

Luke turned around, eyes wide, hands on his hips.

"He _what?"_

"He kissed me." She said quietly.

"And you pulled away right?"

After a moment of not answering, Luke's jaw dropped and he walked over towards her.

"You didn't pull away?"

"Not...as quick as I could have."

"What is that supposed to mean, Lorelai?" He shouted.

She held her arms around herself, suddenly becoming extremely cold.

"It took me a minute to...realize what was happening."

"_What _happened?" He wanted answers.

"Chris was over and we were talking about me not changing since high school, and he kissed me. He flat out kissed me. And I was caught in the moment, and not to mention, I was...well am a little tipsy." She didn't want to include all the details.

"This just happened?!" He asked loudly.

"I kicked him out and ran here because I couldn't find my car keys."

"Well that's just great." He said pacing back and forth, laughing pathetically. "I knew I couldn't trust you with him."

"Me? You couldn't trust me? He was the one who kissed me!"

"And you were the one who 'took a minute' to pull away."

"Well, I told you. I didn't know what was happening, and he made me feel..."

"I don't want to hear how he 'made you feel'. I really don't."

"I'm sorry Luke. I really am sorry. I wanted to come here right away and get this straightened out. I didn't want to fight with you."

"Well what kind of 'kiss' was this, Lorelai?"

"What, you want me to pull out my middle school base knowledge? First base is--"

"I mean was it a peck on the cheek...or lips...or was it a kiss...that I would give you?"

"Well..." she thought about it, fully aware of what kind it was but just didn't want to tell him. "To be honest, it was a kiss you would give me."

He rolled his eyes and groaned out loud.

"Unbelievable." He said, continuing his pacing.

"I didn't mean for this to wind up as a full frontal fight. Calm down."

"Calm down? How would you feel if I told you that after spending the past few weeks, side by side to Nicole, helping her raise her kid? You wouldn't feel too good would you?"

"Well...no..."

"No, you wouldn't. Especially since you hate Nicole. And to tell you the truth Lorelai, I don't like Chris. I don't like him _at all."_

"I know you don't..."

"So, how would you feel if I told you that I kissed the woman who I was spending all my time with?"

"I'd feel pissed." She said honestly. "Really pissed."

"Well you can only imagine because I'm not stupid enough to go waltzing around, kissing Nicole."

"I know Luke...but it's not like I initiated this!" She threw her hands up in the air. "I was the victim! He kissed me, and after taking a few moments of realizing what was going on, I pulled away! And I screamed at him to leave because I said that I wasn't available. I said I'm somebody else's girlfriend. Your girlfriend." She pleaded.

"Not anymore, you're not."

"What?! I can't believe this! You are 'breaking up with me' because he kissed me?"

"Lorelai...it's not about him kissing you. I warned you from the start, I didn't think you helping Chris was a good idea. I told you I was uncomfortable with it but you did it anyways. And I didn't want to stop you from doing what you wanted because I would have felt bad about it. Because that would only make you feel bad for making _me_ feel bad. And I don't want you to feel that way. But, I've warned you numerous amounts of times. I told you before that I knew he wanted something from you...more than your babysitting help. So the very fact that you had to explain to him that you were somebody else's girlfriend...that's ridiculous. It proves me right, 100 percent."

She really couldn't say much. He was right. He had warned her and she didn't listen. And to hear him tell her he spared his feelings because he didn't want to make her feel bad...that killed her. But she couldn't let him leave that easily. There had to be something she could do.

"If you haven't noticed, he's a very, very sore spot in our relationship. Whenever you would lie to me before, it was because of him. Whenever you cancelled plans with me, it was because of him, and whenever I asked you do to something I didn't want you to do...it was always because of him. And really, I've had enough of that."

He paused taking a breath before starting up again. "I'm sick of the lying, canceling, and now, the cheating. I was sick of it from the beginning but I didn't want to end our relationship because of how happy you made me. But you know, maybe you haven't made me as happy as I thought you were. Cause if you made me so damn happy, I don't think you'd be kissing other guys. I don't know why I'd be happy about that. But maybe I was just stuck in your trance...after waiting 8 long; tiring years for you, knowing that I finally got you was all I needed. But you've really ruined that. This isn't Lorelai and Christopher's relationship you're ruining, cause truthfully, you're only making it better for the two of you. It's our relationship you're hurting. And I'm sick of it. So you can go pursue your relationship with him since obviously it means that much to you."

"But Luke, I was tipsy, and wasn't thinking, and I didn't..."

"What so now every single time you tell me you've been drinking, I'm supposed to automatically persuade you to not go kissing random guys."

"He wasn't a random guy, Luke. It was Chris."

"I know that Lorelai! Which probably means you enjoyed the kiss...didn't you?"

"I..." Her head was pounding and the rain came down quicker than before.

"You did. Admit it. At least tell me the stupid thing was worth it."

She stood there, thinking about his question. Of course she didn't _enjoy_ the kiss. But she didn't want to make it seem like it was worth nothing if _this_ was going to be the cause of their breakup.

"It was a nice kiss." His face dropped. "But that's not because I like him. It's just...it was a good kiss." She felt horrible lying to him.

"Well that's great. Go run after him. Who knows, maybe he'll want to try that kissing thing again."

"But I told him to leave Luke," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I told him to leave because he crossed the line."

"Yeah, well so did you." He said walking away, not even bothering to run.

* * *

It was like Déjà vu again, minus the rain. She got up from the crowd, head spinning and looked for her shoes by the door. She couldn't find hers so she just slipped into somebody's big boots and ran out the door.

She knew he probably didn't drive here since the diner was only about 2 blocks away so she looked both ways down the street and finally saw him walking quickly back in the direction of the diner.

She started running, head bobbling, trying to catch up to him. The shoes were too big and her head hurt too much to be doing this but she was.

"Luke!" She called when she was within reach of him. "Wait up!" She finally reached him and placed her hand on his arm, turning him around.

"What?!" He practically shouted.

"What happened back there..." she said out of breath from all the running. "Oh my, my head hurts." She said closing her eyes and when she opened them again, she realized that he had started walking away.

"Wait, Luke!" She called after him, grabbing his hand and walking him over to the curb. She sat down and looked up at him.

"I just need...to sit...but...talk to me. What happened back there?!"

"What do you mean what happened back there?! I didn't want to kiss you! I thought I made that clear. Just like the way I made it clear that I wanted to stop pretending with you last night."

"I thought...that you weren't serious. What are you going to do about the diner?!"

"I'll figure it out. But I'd rather leave this crappy town then spend one more day pretending your mine."

He started walking away and she knew had to go after him unlike the last time.

"We don't have to pretend then Luke. We don't. Why don't we talk about...really getting back together."

"Lorelai, we broke up!"

"I know, but Luke!" She screamed, attempting to get him to stop walking. "Stop it for a second, gosh!"

He turned around and placed his hands on his hips. "What?!"

"I'm sorry Luke! I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry about lying to you before...and I'm sorry for canceling plans with you before...and I'm sorry for kissing Chris. Or letting him kiss me. Whatever the hell it was. I'm sorry for hurting you, I really am. I may never forgive myself for hurting you. And if it makes you feel any better, I may never be happy again, knowing that I hurt you the way I did. But I know how much I hurt you Luke...I hurt myself too. And I know I'd _never_ repeat those actions...if you gave me another chance."

"I don't want to give you another chance Lorelai. I'm really done. Our time...it's overdue."

He began walking away and as a few more tears slipped her eyes, she screamed out to him from down the street.

"I lied Luke! It wasn't a good kiss!" He stopped walking but didn't hurt around. He wondered if she was talking about the night of the breakup, when she admitted that it was a good kiss. Believe it or not, the current circumstance reminded him of the breakup and that scene was on his mind.

"It was nothing like kissing you!" She shouted.

He stood here for a few moments, taking it all in. She knew he wasn't going to turn around, so she tried making this easier for him.

"I just wanted you to know that." She said loudly.

And with that, he began walking further and further away.

She watched him walk until he was out of sight. She turned around, squeezing her head with her hands, sniffling.

She walked back to Sookie's and sat on the curb because she wasn't sure if she could make it back inside.

The night was getting cold.

* * *

If we said that was the end of the story would you be mad?! Well luckily, it's not! So...what did you think?! Review please!! For Luke and Lorelai's sake at least...hehe.

xoxo.


	6. The Coming Out

**Disclaimer:** All Amy Sherman-Palladinos.

Finally! Here's the update! Sorry about the long wait, finals are coming up and I'm getting ready to study so I haven't had as much time to write lately! But here is the next chapter. We hope you guys enjoy it. We just wanted to give a HUGE thanks for all the reviews we've gotten! It's _so_ nice to hear from you guys and we hope you continue reviewing! We appreciate it so much! Enjoy the chapter and let us know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Coming Out**

Horrible, she thought to herself, the after affects of drinking: horrible, horrible, horrible.

She strolled out of her house major headache in hand, walking towards Sookie's house. She turned left on Plum, followed by another left on Fruit, the main street.

She walked with her head face down, afraid to see anybody. She couldn't drive because her car was at Sookies. After her curb-presence last night, she got up and walked home. She hardly remembers walking home; all she remembers is that she did because her car was still at Sookies. As well as her purse, keys, and cell phone. Oh, and her shoes too. She took the mystery boots home with her, but took them off on her way home at some point because they were outside on the porch in the morning; little scratches embedded on the bottom of her feet.

Soak them in hot water later, she mentally reminded herself while she tried discretely walking past Miss Patty's.

"So she must have been kissing him for a while if he--" Miss Patty caught glance at Lorelai and shut her mouth immediately.

Not even a hello, Lorelai noticed. No sympathy in her direction- then again, why should there be?

She headed to Sookie's to pick up her stuff, clean up a little, and apologize for the scene she made last night. Oh and also apologizing for being a lying friend and never telling her about Luke, and Christopher; then leaving Sookie to find out in the most horrifying way possible. How sweet she is.

She should really win the best friend of the year award.

As she made it past the newsstand, she saw a bundle of people in a small circle whispering and pointing a little in her direction. She attempted a small wave to the crowd but they all looked down and shut their mouths.

She tried acting cool. She lifted her head up and smiled, walking proudly down the street. 'Play cool,' she thought to herself, 'act normal, and tough, and strong, and gosh my head is pounding.' She reached in her purse and took out a bottle of aspirin. Eyes shot in her direction, observing the medication in her hand. She opened up the bottle and took two pills out, holding them in her hands as she placed the bottle back in her purse. She didn't have any water but still casually popped them in her mouth and swallowed as quickly as possible.

Great, that'd probably be on the front page of the Stars Hollow webpage; "Lorelai Gilmore: Liar, Cheater & Drug Abuser."

If only Emily Gilmore could witness that. Gosh she'd be proud.

The rest of the walk towards Sookie's was simple. She avoided all major streets possible. Banana, Orange, and Kiwi always were quiet streets.

As she approached Sookie's house, she glanced to see if her car was still on the street. When she didn't see it, she started to freak but then realized that it was in the driveway. They must have moved it at some point.

She walked up to the door before nervously knocking. She shouldn't be afraid to see Sookie, she should understand, after all, she is her best friend.

"Hi sweetie." Sookie said sympathetically, motioning for Lorelai to come inside.

"Hi Sookie." She said, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Killer party last night, huh?" Lorelai said trying to sound perkier.

"Killer alright."

Lorelai nodded her head and looked at the boots in her hands. "Oh here, I'm not sure who's these are. I just took them last night because I couldn't find mine." Or she just didn't want to look. Either excuse would work.

"Ah, those are Jacksons."

"Tell him sorry for me."

"Here, here, come on in." She took Lorelai's purse and settled it on the table before walking down and sitting on the couch. "So, how are you?" Sookie asked curiosity in her voice.

"I feel horrible to be honest."

"Aw, I'm--"

"No, I feel bad for ruining your party, and for leaving without explaining myself, and not helping you clean up like I told you I would, and--"

"Wow, Lorelai calm down. I don't mind at all." She patted her on the leg. "I meant how are you and...Luke? What happened with you guys?!?" She asked suddenly very anxious to know.

"Uh...man," she looked around the room and swung her head back to Sookie. "I don't really know where to start."

"How about from the beginning?"

"Beginning, yeah, that sounds right to me. Well let's see, oh hell- Chris and I kissed."

"You didn't..." Sookie said, not believing Lorelai would do that.

"Well, he kissed me after we had this weird conversation...he was trying to prove himself right, though I don't know why that was such a big deal to him, and he kissed me. And...I didn't exactly pull away right away, rather I...increased the intensity of the kiss, and...when I finally pulled away, I told him to leave."

"Wow."

"Yeah, so...I went to go tell Luke, and...he didn't take it so well. He was mad Sookie, really mad. So, he pulled out all this crap, that sadly, is true, about me and how I've been helping Chris too much, and how when I lied to him times before, it was because of Chris...and, all this stuff really. And he broke up with me." She finished lamely.

"When was this?"

"Second week of September." She said quickly and Sookie gasped, surprised it had been so long. She nodded her head for Lorelai to continue.

"And the next day I went to see him because I was thinking about what he said at the town meeting we went too when we started dating. He told Taylor that if we ever broke up, he would leave town. And naturally, I was thinking of ways at this point to keep him from leaving, and also, to keep him from being away from me because I knew that I would hardly see him. It's not like we'd be the best of friends, you know? So, I went to the diner the next morning and proposed a plan to him. I thought it would be clever if we pretended we were dating just to keep him from leaving because Taylor sure is a man of his word."

"Oh yes he is."

"So, after a little persuading, he agreed. And we have been 'together' ever since." She said using air quotes.

"A month and a half?" Lorelai nodded. "A month and half you two have been pretending?" She asked still not believing everything.

"Yes."

"Wow."

"I know. I mean I was just thinking, what can I do to still be with him? I liked him so much Sookie, I was so happy with him. But I blew it. I really blew it. I knew he wouldn't forgive me and just suggest we begin dating again. So that's why I came up with the plan."

"I can understand that."

"But...I hurt him, really badly too. I didn't mean to, you know that."

"I know."

"But, I don't know...I guess things just happen. And he came over a few nights ago, and I kissed him, which then led to my bed...and I thought we were going to be together...at least for the night, but...he pulled away and said he wanted to quit pretending."

"Was that the first time you guys ever did something together...in private?"

"Yes." She said seriously. "And, I asked him to the party with me, and he said he wasn't coming...but I guess he came for some reason..."

"Uh, I might have had something to do with that." Sookie said with a guilty face.

"Huh?" Lorelai asked.

"I sorta went to the diner the other day and told him that he better come or else it'd be rude of him. He...had no choice. You know how pregnancy hormones work..."

"Oh do I."

"So consider that my fault."

"No, it's not your fault at all. So I guess, I don't know, he sorta blew up last night. I don't really remember much...spin the baby-bottle, and the sentence 'I don't like kissing my ex's unlike some people' and fighting and chasing him down the street."

"Yeah you didn't come back to the party."

"I know, I was scared. I didn't want to see anybody. Were they all talking?"

"It's Stars Hollow, sweetie."

"I know, stupid question."

"Well. That's a lot of news to take in. I don't know what to say."

"Oh don't say anything," she said shaking her hand, "especially that you're sorry because you shouldn't be. It's all my fault. I messed things up with him, and I didn't tell you anything before now...I guess I just wanted to keep this private..."

"I understand."

"But, I'm sorry for ruining the party last night. And not sticking around afterwards to clean. I just didn't really want to be around anyone."

"I understand, don't worry."

"Well...good." Lorelai leaned over and gave Sookie a hug. "Thanks Sookie. For listening."

"Your welcome. And you know, I'm..."

"I know."

She pulled away and looked around the house. "I don't take it there's anything in here I can clean, huh?"

"I did it last night."

"Ah, man."

"Oh here," Sookie said getting up and grabbing Lorelai's other purse, "here's your purse. You're stuffs all in there."

"Oh thanks." She said getting up and taking it. "Well, I'm going to go. I've gotta go do a few things for the Inn and...you know how it goes."

"I do."

"So, I'll see you a little later. Tomorrow if I don't see you again today."

"You got it."

"And, sorry again. We'll talk."

"We'll talk." Sookie repeated as Lorelai walked out the door.

She smiled as she walked to her car, glad to know she didn't have to walk back and face reality a little bit more.

_xxx_

"...and she tried following after me last night but I just didn't want to listen to it anymore." Luke said into his cell phone while walking towards the door of his apartment.

"Aw, I'm sorry bro. I never saw that coming, you guys really did seem perfect for each other." Liz said truthfully.

"Funny...neither did I," he opened the door and tripped over something in the hallway, "ah, damnit!"

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm just on my way down to Doose's. I've gotta pick a few things up. But anyways, I don't know what to do, Taylor's bound to kick me out of this stupid town soon enough anyways. But I guess its okay because I don't even want to see her."

"Well, being the kind little sister that I am...you know there's always a room at our place. We'd love for you to come stay with us. It's the least I can do..."

At this point Luke was walking into Doose's, grabbing a basket and putting the necessary things he needed in it.

_xxx_

Lorelai walked into Doose's in desperate need of coffee. She walked over to her favorite isle and searched for the best looking cans before putting them in her basket. When she heard a familiar voice, she froze, suddenly not wanting to breathe because it may be too loud. She walked towards the end of the isle, ducking slightly, trying to hear what Luke was saying.

"...really because I didn't know that about him. That's a great mental image." He said laughing a little. Lorelai's eyes narrowed, suddenly curious who he was talking too. "I know, I know. Yeah I'll see you soon...right when things get a little less crazy over here...sure, a few days...I know, and thanks...I miss you too...bye."

'I miss you too?' She wondered to herself. 'Who could he possibly be talking too? Has he actually moved on already?' She stood there, frozen until she heard something fall, then gaining her concentration again. She turned the corner into the next isle, not realizing Luke was still there, and knocked over a few bags of potatoes.

She looked up at him guiltily, trying to smile but couldn't manage to with her toes hurting the way they did.

"Hey...ouch, that hurt." She said looking down at her feet and bringing her eyes back up to his. "Good thing that didn't happen in the diner, huh? You know, since your insurance only covers you..." Her voice grew quieter as she saw him roll his eyes and walk away not even saying a word to her.

'Gosh I'm so stupid!' She said mentally hitting herself. 'Why on earth would I say something like that?! And who the hell was he talking too...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning, Lorelai woke up and went downstairs to make a pot of coffee. But wait...she thought, looking through the cabinets; she never actually did buy that coffee she meant to get yesterday. She ran out as quickly as possible, humiliated by the way she acted around Luke. She spent the rest of the night at her house watching mockable movies on TV in between taking naps because she had been restless for the past few nights.

After sulking around the kitchen she walked into Rory's room, looking around and taking in the loneliness of the house as a whole. Luke used to be around so much when they were_ really_ dating. He'd sleep over just about every night but leave extra early. He always liked sleeping at Lorelai's better because he felt guilty when he'd leave her alone in his apartment. Occasionally, he'd come upstairs; still at early hours-about 6:00- just to check if she was awake. Most of the time she was sound asleep, buried underneath his pillows. She always was a pillow hog...

Though it was the opposite way around for her. She enjoyed sleeping there because she liked the smallness of his apartment. She'd never have to go looking for him-unless he was in the diner-because he was always visible. She liked the homey feeling he brought to the place, and plus- his bed was much more comfy than hers, so she said. She liked the fact that he had flannel sheets, dozens of pillows, and a comforter that she usually stole off of him at some point during the night.

* * *

**Early August**

"I am so full. I don't know why you made me eat that third piece of pie." Lorelai whined while walking up her porch, holding hands with Luke.

"You're kidding right?"

"No. I told you my stomach would hurt but you insisted anyways."

"Yes that's exactly what I did." He said nodding his head as they stopped in front of her door.

She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks for tonight."

He gave her another quick kiss. "My pleasure."

She rested her forehead against his, smiling at him.

"Stay with me tonight." She whispered. She never asked him to stay over before. She had only stayed over at his house twice but he never actually slept at her house.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Returning her smile, he pulled his head away from hers and followed her inside the house.

"You wanna watch a movie or something?" She asked taking her coat off and hanging it up.

"It's almost midnight."

"Ah, good point. Straight to bed it is then. Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs with her. When they got in her room, she closed the door and walked over to her dresser.

"You know, I have clothes you can wear."

"Oh yipee. Do they have the words Princess or Queen written on them?"

She smirked at him and rolled her eyes. "No. As a matter of fact they say Diva so, ha."

"My bad."

"No really, I stole a pair of boxers from your apartment once. And I have at least 2 flannel shirts of yours in my closet."

"Why did you steal my clothes?" He asked accusingly.

"I didn't steal them, I borrowed them." She threw the change of clothes at him and pointed towards the bathroom. "You can use it first."

As he went into the bathroom she changed into a slinky slip she had. She pulled back part of her hair and as she finished with that, he walked out of the bathroom, eyeing her up and down.

"It's all yours." He said nodding his head towards the bathroom.

She smiled at him as she watched his eyes travel up and down her body. She walked by brushing against him, closing the door behind her.

She came out a few minutes later and noticed Luke sitting at the foot of the bed.

"I didn't know what side of the bed you slept on..." He said when he noticed she was looking at him strangely.

"You're _so_ sweet." She walked over towards the right side and got under the covers.

They both adjusted under the covers and turned the bedside lamps off.

"You tired?" She asked hitting him with her hand.

"Yep."

"Okay," she rolled over and gave him a kiss goodnight, not moving to far away from him, "goodnight."

"Night."

Less than 5 minutes later, Lorelai poked him and cooed, "Luuuuuuke?"

"What?" He responded, clearly still wide awake.

"I'm not tired."

"You're never tired when we go to bed."

"I'm sorry I never sleep. It's not my fault."

"You don't _never _sleep. You're not 19 you know."

"So. I could still stay up all night if that's what you're inferring."

"No you couldn't. You'd pass out quicker than you'd realize it."

"Fine, it's a bet. We'll see who cracks first."

Luke sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, you're on."

"Good."

She rolled over on her stomach, resting her chin on his chest and throwing a leg in between his two, laying on him partially.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure." He said gazing down at her admiring her positioning. He had realized over time that she constantly has to be very close to him, if not on top of him.

"You're the second guy that I've ever let sleep over. I mean with me...actually in my bed."

"Really?" He asked somewhat surprised.

"You sound surprised." She knew him too well. "Do you think I'm easy to be with?" She asked accusingly with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"I didn't say that."

"Because you know, you're not the only one that said they were all in. And as you probably know, I'm not usually the 'all in' kind of girl."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"I haven't had the best track record with relationships...I've never actually put myself all the way out there because I was afraid I'd get hurt. But with you," she brought her hand up and taped him on his cheek, "I knew it was different."

"Oh yeah?" He asked. "How so?"

"I just knew you before we dated. I've watched you for 8 years. You were my best friend before we actually started dating and I felt comfortable with you. I knew you wouldn't hurt me, cause word has it, you're the sweetest guy I know." She said honestly, blushing slightly but he couldn't tell. Thank God for darkness.

He leaned down and kissed her on top of her head. She bit her lip and smiled, adjusting herself on his side and wrapping her arms around his stomach bringing her head closer to his.

"I'm glad you feel comfortable."

"Me too."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did but I'll let you ask another one."

He laughed and turned so he was facing her.

"Who was the first guy who slept here?"

"Max."

Ah, Max. How could he forget Max? "Oh."

"You sound awfully disappointed young man."

"I'm not disappointed. I just don't know if you remember but I didn't exactly like the guy."

Lorelai laughed, recalling several incidents. "I don't know why. He was a nice guy."

"Yeah but...never mind." He said, voice growing quieter.

"What?" She pestered. "What, what, what?"

"It's nothing."

"You can't say that. You have to tell me now."

He stayed quiet for a second before opening his mouth. "I was jealous of the guy. He dated you before I did."

"Aw Lukey." She kissed him several times on his cheek.

"It's no big deal, I'm just saying."

"I understand."

"But I don't know about the nice guy thing. He might have been nice to you but he was rude to me."

"When did you ever talk to him? You guys had secret meetings without me?" She pouted playfully.

"No, just the way he'd look at me. Like at the town meeting he went to, when I was walking out, I remember you were looking at me and I was staring at Max. He kept looking bothered, so he pulled you in and gave you a kiss to distract you."

"That's because he thought you and I slept with each other."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Or, dated I guess. One or the other. Remember that one time you came over a while ago to pick up Bert and I was going out with Max that night?"

"Yeah." Luke knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Well you kept throwing around these things about being around for me and always helping me out, and when you left he asked if whatever happened between us was over. He wouldn't believe that we never dated before."

Luke stayed quiet, knowing Lorelai had more to say. "Which by the way, I don't know why you didn't ask me out before this summer."

"You know _you_ could have made some sort of move before."

"Perhaps, but I choose to be the lady in this relationship, or for that matter…any relationship. So it was on you."

"Well…for one, you weren't always the most single person out there…then again I wasn't always either," he added knowing she'd mention something about Nicole or Rachel later. "And also, I never thought you'd _want_ to date me. So that goes to show how surprised I still am that I'm lying here with you."

"Why wouldn't I want to date you?!" She asked like that was the stupidest thought in the world.

"I don't know. You dated high-class English teachers and business men that worked with your father, or…guys that liked coffee. I never thought you had interest in me because all you'd do is come in, yap for coffee, then leave."

"That's not true at all." She said seriously. "First…I didn't necessarily like that high-class living if you couldn't tell by now. Remember that's how I used to live and remember how much I hated that? And also, I wouldn't come in and just yap to you. It's not like you were my dealer, we were great friends you know."

"I know."

"But I'm going to skip over the fact that you thought I wouldn't want to date you because that's insane."

"So you're telling me that if I don't know…4 years ago I asked you out you would have said yes?"

She took a minute to think, not wanting to sound rude. "I might have. But you see, I don't think I was ready to be in any sort of relationship 4 years ago. That's roughly when I dated Max and you saw how that turned out. And it wasn't because he was a bad guy or anything, I just…I wasn't ready to commit. I had just started putting Rory through Chilton, and the Independence was growing stronger, and I had a lot of things on my mind. I had to start going to my parent's house, knowing that I'm in great debt to them and all these things aren't necessarily reason's not to date somebody but that's how it worked for me. Guys were a whole different part of my life. And, the past 4 years have given me ample time enough to get to know the real you, and really have the desire to date you. I'm glad we waited although if I were as stable as I am now back then, I would have loved to spend the last 4 years with you."

"Well then with all that said I'm glad I waited."

"So am I."

"I'm glad we got a chance to talk about these things." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Goodnight."

Lorelai didn't respond, instead rolling her eyes. "Luuuuuuke…we have a bet going on."

"Ah that's right." He said disappointingly for he was growing tired.

"So don't think you can just drop out that easily."

"I won't."

They were quiet for a few moments, lost in their own thoughts though both thinking about the past.

"You asked me out before."

"What?" Luke asked not hearing what she said.

"You asked me out before." She repeated.

"When?"

"On Sookie and Jackson's first date. We were playing poker and you said maybe we should do this again sometime. Whether or not you were talking about playing poker, or 'hanging out' with me, I don't know, but either way Mrs. Kim interrupted that."

"I meant did you want to go out sometime."

"You remember?" She asked happily.

"Of course I do. Don't you think I was a little mad at Mrs. Kim?"

Lorelai laughed, tracing her fingers along his jaw before leaning in and kissing him slowly. He wrapped his arm around her back and held her closely.

"You _have_ been pining."

"Have not." He insisted though he probably was for a nice amount of years.

"I like this…reminiscing."

"It's nice." He agreed.

"You know, I actually admitted to my mom once that I might have feelings for you."

"You did?"

"I did. As a matter of fact it was about 4 years ago. I was at her house for dinner and I said how you came to find Stella for Rory and I…and she went into this rant about how you're always around…which you are, and how it seems that you're always doing stuff for me and she asked me to be honest with her and admit if I had any feelings for you."

"And you said…"

"'Maybe I do…'" She said exactly so. "I hated making her feel right though. Just like how she was right about me always calling you when I need help, or helping me find a loose chic…"

"The infamous Stella."

"Aw, I'm glad you still remember her."

"That was the night that we picked out the paint colors for the diner." He said knowingly, rubbing his hand against her back.

"It was."

"I remember that night clearly because I thought when you called me to help you look for Stella—"

"…that there wasn't actually a Stella." Lorelai finished.

"Right. Because that night, I thought…well, it sounds stupid, but I thought I had the nerves to actually kiss you but the stupid town came banging on the door to take pictures of the diner."

"God, I remember that…" She said grinning.

"So, I didn't actually think that you had a loose chic. I just thought… I don't know maybe you wanted to be with me but now that I'm saying this out loud, I feel extremely stupid."

"You're not stupid. And it's not a stupid thought at all."

"Yeah but it wasn't true."

"Well, who knows? Maybe it was and I was just scared."

"Maybe…" He said, not convinced that was the truth but didn't want to go further with the conversation.

"I still have pictures of Rory from that night…her Donna Reed outfit, I still cry with laughter when I see those."

"Poor girl, you shouldn't blackmail her with those."

"Who said I blackmail her?"

"I know you."

"Ah, damnit."

"How is Rory? I haven't seen her around in a while."

"She's doing good. She's busy, but…she's coming by sometime next week I think."

"Good. Make sure you guys come by when she's here."

"I will." She grabbed his face and tilted it towards hers. "You're so sweet. To me of course…and my kid."

"She's a great kid…easy to be sweet too."

"She is."

"She got it from you, ya know. You were the one who raised her." He said nudging her.

"I know…though you were a big help too, Luke. More than Christopher ever was."

He stayed silent.

"I mean, you were always there for her. You made her cake on her birthday…and blew up balloons…and you brought food over when she was sick when she was younger…you were at her graduation…I mean the least her real father could do was go to her graduation but he couldn't even arrange for that. You were there in a heart beat. Hell, you wanted to go. I don't think you know how much she appreciates that."

"I do."

"And I appreciate it _so_ much also."

"I know you do." He kissed her forehead. "And I'm glad I could be there. For her birthday, for her graduation…"

They stayed still for a few moments, not talking at all, enjoying the silence.

"Hey Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember at Rory's graduation…how that was the last time I said bye to you before I left on my cruise."

"Yeah." She said, sighing at the thought of Nicole. The name itself made her instantly roll her eyes.

"Well that night when I went home, I had a dream about you."

"Oh was it dirty?" She asked excitingly.

He sighed, laughing a little. "No it wasn't dirty."

"Then what was it about?"

"You told me not to get engaged."

"Huh? You mean I came up to you and said 'Hey Luke, can I get a cup of coffee to go…thanks, here's the money, tip included baby, and oh one thing, don't get engaged.' I winked, and then left?"

"Uh, you couldn't be any more wrong."

"Damn. It was worth a shot. Well what did I say?"

"It was after Rory's graduation. I was closing up and you came into the diner and said you wanted to say something in case you didn't see me again before I went on the cruise, and I asked you what it was and you said don't get engaged. When I asked you why you just left."

"Gosh, I'm so mysterious." She said admiring the description.

"I guess."

She took a few minutes to take in his dream. "I wish that wasn't a dream."

"Really?" He asked surprised.

"Cause knowing you, you would have listened. And I don't know if _you_ could tell but I didn't like Nicole. She was always so mean to me, giving me dirty looks like she owned you."

"Well, she owned me more than you did, ya know."

She hit him on his chest. "She was just rude to me. She always talked to me like I was beneath her and her stupid lawyer friends."

"That's because she was jealous of you." Luke said knowingly.

"Oh, hostility. I like." She said rubbing her hands together, smiling devilishly.

"I told you that before though, when you slept at my house. I mentioned how you were a sore spot in our relationship."

"I know because you couldn't stop yappin about me!"

"Ha. I could, but I didn't know what else to talk about."

"I was on your mind a lot, huh?"

"Apparently."

Lorelai smiled, thinking about how Luke had secretly been pining for her while dating the wicked witch.

"You know, I was upset when I found out you got married to Nicole."

"Because you didn't like her?"

"I didn't like her being with you. I didn't like the fact that you left and went on a cruise with some girl. You never leave Stars Hollow. And then when you come back and said you were married? I just…I guess I don't like change. I just don't like thinking you've been married before."

"Change isn't all that bad is it?" He said squeezing her side.

"No it's not bad _at all._" She smiled. "This just might have been the greatest change that ever happened to me." She laughed at herself. "Oh gosh that sounded so cheesy. You can enter the happy-sappy-music now, Fred."

Luke laughed. "Hey, it might have been cheesy but it was true."

"I know it was." She said grinning proudly. "And to think that it didn't even start to long ago…"

"Yeah. Hey, just out of curiosity…when you think of us being together, when do you consider the starting point?"

"I always think of the night of your sisters wedding, when we danced. And then when you walked me home and asked me to the movies."

"Just wondering."

"Because I remember a few days after that I went to the diner with Rory. And I asked her if she noticed anything different about the way you asked me…for coffee." She finished lamely, laughing at the stupidity of the circumstances. "And, I dragged her outside and had this whole big, 'I think I'm dating Luke' confession."

"Ah, so _that's_ what you were saying that day."

"You remember?"

"Of course. It wasn't _that_ long ago. That's the day you rammed into the table and knocked everything over."

"Not to mention ramming into the door at the Dragonfly, and Derrick the server…"

"You're a clutz."

"Or you just made me nervous." She said truthfully.

He smiled and pulled her closer.

She closed her eyes smiling to herself, thinking about all the happy memories she's had with him. Pre-romance and post. Time's when she'd be mad at him, or jealous over him…with Nicole, and Rachel…She'd never forget how much of a big deal she made Rachel, before meeting her. When she asked Sookie about her during the concert, and when Sookie pointed out the sweatshirt that she thought was Rachel's. Lorelai laughed at the memories.

"Luke." She said quietly.

"Mmm hmm?" He mumbled.

"I _did_ imagine her being a Lorelai kind of pretty."

Luke nodded, not sure what she was talking about, but then again not really needing to know the truth behind whatever it was she meant.

He figured agreeing with her would be easiest.

"I bet, Lorelai, I bet." He paused for a moment. "So what do you say…time to go to sleep?"

"We have a bet mister…" She said wagging a finger.

"How do you plan on staying up the rest of the night?"

"Oh I have an idea…" She smiled seductively, falling on top of him, legs intertwining, kiss him intensely

_xxx_

At around 5 am, Lorelai woke up. She hadn't been sleeping for the past hour; tossing and turning lost in thoughts.

"Hey…Luke," she said shaking him awake, "Luke…wake up."

Eyes still closed, he answered.

"Hmm?"

"I just want you to know that I'm rally, really happy."

He rolled over on his side facing her and smiling.

"I'm really, really happy too."

She nodded and fell back asleep in his arms.

* * *

But now she had to be strong and forget all about their times together. She's going to act mature about this, she decided. Wanting to be the adult in this situation because she knew he wasn't going to be, and sooner or later he'd realize how childish he's being.

Speaking of children, she's overdue an email to Rory.

As she clicked on Internet Explorer, the homepage came up; In big bold letters, the headline read- "**Breakup of the Year: Watch Out, You May Be Next. What We Never Thought Would Happen."**

Lorelai's eyes narrowed as her jaw dropped and she read the article. Familiar words such as "cheating, lying, Christopher, hurt, pretending, drunk..." showed up on the screen.  
"...new rumor has it that Lorelai is moving to Rory's dorm to live with her. Sookie and Michel will take on the Dragonfly themselves while Lorelai takes part time job at Yale...sweeping the floors."

"What!" She practically screamed, actually holding back laugher at how wrong this all was. "Who wrote this crap?" She scanned down to the bottom.

'A Story by Kirk.' The bottom of the screen read.

She cut down to the bottom of the story and read aloud. "Send your condolences to Lorelai Gilmore's house. She'll be leaving the Dragonfly within a few days and don't ever expect to see her at the diner again. The day she faces him again will be the day that my mother adores my cat."

She exed out the screen, suddenly not in the mood to write an email to Rory. That could wait. She had other business to do.

She ran upstairs and threw on a change of clothes and shoes, applying a little makeup and throwing her hair back loosely.

"Screw the Hollow." She said slamming the door behind her. She hopped in her car and drove off to the diner.

'Be mature,' she thought to herself. 'Go in there, act as if everything's normal, and try to be friends with him. Like the way it was before. Before_ anything_ happened.'

She walked up the few stairs and opened the door to the diner. Everybody turned around, eyes widened, staring at Lorelai as if she was an alien.

"Hi everyone!" She said in a chipper voice. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to sit down and eat..." she said walking over towards the counter.

She sat down at the counter and waited for Luke to come out of the kitchen. As soon as he did, he stared at her coldly before turning around and going to serve a table's food. When he returned he started fumbling with the cash register and writing notes on his order pad.

"Hi Luke. Can I have a cup of coffee please?"

He didn't move, let alone look up at her. He continued what he was doing.

"Luke, may I have a cup of coffee please?" She asked again, more hopeful this time.

He kept doing whatever the hell it was that kept him so occupied for a little longer before turning around and walking back into the kitchen.

"What was that? You're not going to serve me?" She called into the kitchen. "Isn't there a rule against that?"

He walked out with two plates and set them down at the people beside Lorelai.

"Can I have coffee _to-go_ please?"

He walked back into the kitchen and she heard him say something to Caesar.

"I'll cook for a little while. You can go take your break."

"Great." She said out loud as Caesar walked out of the kitchen taking his apron off. "Screw maturity." She said under her breath, though walked out of the diner with a proud smile to cover up the feeling of stupidity that was currently being rubbed in her face by all of Stars Hollow.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

Later that afternoon Rory came over for the night. She didn't have any classes for the next two days and tomorrow, they were going to her grandparents Christmas party together. So she thought spending some time with Lorelai wouldn't hurt at all.

"Hey mom!" She said walking in and setting her things on the ground by the door.

"Oh, hey babe. We need coffee."

"No hello how are you my lovely daughter who drove in the middle of rush hour to get to you because you were lonely and bored."

"Oh I'm _still_ lonely and bored…and now, I'm coffee-less too."

"Let's go to Luke's." She said walking towards the door.

"Uh, not so fast."

"What?"

"We can't go to Luke's." She said sighing and pulling Rory down on the couch with her.

"Why? I thought you agreed to work out your differences…if that's what you want to call them."

"Well…I did."

"So live up to the deal and let's go. Unless you want to make coffee."

"We don't have any."

"Okay…so, Luke's it is."

"But we just said we can't go to Luke's."

"But you said you'd be mature."

"I said I _was_ mature."

"Okay so continue being mature and let's go."

"Oh my God, I _think_ we've been here before." She said rolling her eyes.

"Well then what's up?"

"Well…I went to the diner today. I agreed with myself that I'd be mature about this whole Luke thing. So, I went, and I sat down, said my hellos, and asked for coffee. What did he do? A normal person would say he got me coffee. Well not this time. He rolled his eyes because that's all he ever does and then went to serve some customers. 'That's okay,' I said to myself figuring he was busy though when I looked around it looked a little dull, 'He'll get to me soon.' I said, convincing myself. Well the second time he came behind the counter I asked again, and he went into the kitchen, told Caesar to go cook and I just left."

"He refused to serve you?" Rory asked utterly surprised. She figured he would be the mature one in this situation. But she never actually found out _why_ they broke up, did she? Nope.

"He refused to serve me." Lorelai reassured him.

"Wow. I'm surprised he's being so immature about this."

Lorelai laughed pathetically and sighed. "I'm not."

"You know, mom. I think it would be helpful if you told me why you guys broke up. Maybe then I'd understand why he's being so stubborn about this."

"I don't want to talk about it Rory."

Rory rolled her eyes, thinking of ways to crack her stubborn mother.

"I'd just appreciate it if you told me."

"I know you would Rory, but I don't want to talk about it. Not now at least." She didn't want Rory getting mad at her father for doing what he did. Though it was wrong, she felt wrong telling her that, especially since Rory had been getting around with her father for a little while now.

"Fine."

"Ok good. Well, will you go pick me up some coffee from Luke's…please?" She said pouting.

Rory thought about it for a moment, concentrating hard on the situation.

"Yeah, I'll be right back."

She grabbed her purse and hurried to the diner.

She drove over their quickly, not really concentrating on the road and busted in the door looking around for Luke.

"Luke!" She called into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" He asked walking out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel.

"I need to talk to you. Do you think we could step outside for a second?" She said grabbing his hand and dragging him outside, across the street to the gazebo.

Bad times have happened here…he sighed thinking about the feeling of familiarity.

"What's going on Rory? Is everything okay?"

"She tried Luke." She started, already pacing back and forth, gesturing with her hands. "She tried to act mature, she didn't want to make this a big deal, she told me she didn't, so she said she'd act mature. She wasn't going to let her stubbornness stand in the way of your friendship because you guys were such great friends before."

She turned to him and he looked at her wide eyes, speechless. He's never really seen this side of Rory before. Well, not around him at least.

She continued. "But you can't even act remotely interested in being friends with her again. You don't even try to save the 8 long years of being friends with her. You just let it slide like you don't care at all. And she cares Luke. She really cares. She may look like this strong independent woman because that's how she is. That's how my mom is. That's how Lorelai is. And you know that. But just because she acts like she's not upset doesn't mean she's really hurting inside because she is Luke, she really is. I know her, probably better than anybody and I know when she's sad and hurt. And believe me, she is."

Luke still didn't know what to say. Clearly, Rory didn't know why they broke up. But he wasn't going to be the one to tell her that.

"I want to be friends with your mom, Rory. I do. I just…I don't think it's going to be the easiest thing to do right now."

Rory rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.

"Just give it some time, kid. Not too much but a little at least."

It was almost as if he was asking for her permission. She nodded her head in agreement.

"Fine."

"And you know…I'm sorry about everything too. I didn't want…these things to happen."

Clueless, Rory nodded her head. 'I'm really going to have to get mom to tell me what happened.' She thought to herself.

"I'm sure you didn't." She bit her lips and motioned with her head that he could go back to the diner. He rubbed the side of her arm, smiled as much as he could and left.

After she saw him settle in the diner, she walked back to the car and drove home.

"I'm home." She called walking in.

"Yes and baring coffee. Get in here."

Rory stopped and looked down at her hands. Empty.

"Uh, I forgot to get it." She said walking into the living room.

"How could you _forget_ it? What you went to the diner, said hi and left?"

"Not quite." She bit her lip, hoping her mother wouldn't ask what the real truth was. "I just, got carried away talking to someone. That's all. I can go back and get it if you want."

"Nah," Lorelai waved her hand in the air, "its okay. I'll run to Doose's real quickly. I want to get a few things for the house anyways. I'll be back in a few. Don't leave me!"

"I'm not going anywhere." She said plopping down on the couch.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"Marshmallows, peanut butter, red vines, chocolate syrup, whipped cream…" she said out loud, putting each product in her basket.

She turned the corner and bumped into somebody, dropping her basket.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to ram into you like that." She didn't even look at who it was. She automatically bent down and picked up her belongings. She noticed _his_ shoes though.

She slowly worked her way up, staring him in the eye. Maybe she should try saying something. Something…normal. Like a hello for instance.

"Hey Lorelai." He said smiling weakly. If Rory wanted him to grow up, then he would.

Or maybe a hello would be too kind.

She rolled her eyes slightly and walked straight to the cash register.

'I'll give him a little taste of his own medicine. See what he thinks of that.' She thought to herself.

Luke watched her walk away, amazed that she completely blew him off. Not to mention amazed at how much that hurt him. Seeing her walk away like that.

More than he imagined, that's for sure.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was almost 12:00 when she finally settled in her bed. It had been later than usual. She and Rory had a movie marathon and killer sweet teeth. Though just about the whole time Lorelai was lost in thought about her market appearance earlier, she managed to seem like she was paying attention.

She got under the blankets and had one of the biggest cravings yet. She wanted to be next to him right now more than ever. She _needed_ to be next to him. It was almost as if her body would collapse if someone didn't hold her tightly like the way he used to, but she knew she couldn't have him.

And wanting him was down right killing her.

After a good hour of tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep.

_xxx_

_Bang!_

She shot up in bed.

_Bang! Bang!_

"What the hell?" She said aloud, rubbing her eyes open and glancing at the clock. 2:36.

_Bang!_

Was somebody at the door? She wondered. Couldn't be. When she heard the noise again, she looked towards the window and saw rocks being thrown at it.

She got up and looked outside of the window nervously.

_Luke._

She opened the window and looked down at him.

"What do you want?" She said harshly. "Its 2:36 and I'm trying to go to sleep."

"Can I come inside for a second?"

She thought long and hard. Did she want to get into whatever the hell this was at this time? Yes, for if she passed up the offer, it may never come back up again.

"Sure…" she said, closing her window. "Why not Romeo." She said to herself while walking down the stairs.

She opened the door and allowed him to come in. He leaned against the back of the door and grabbed her hands, holding them tightly.

"Lorelai." He looked deep in her eyes. "Look, I've been thinking about ways to do this…approach you…and this is the only thing I can come up with. Coming to see you. And I know it's late, but…you were on my mind after what happened today at the market, and I needed to do this…now."

She nodded for him to continue.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for over reacting about everything, and I'm sorry about blowing up in your face about the pretending thing, and I'm sorry about ignoring you at the diner and market. I know you didn't mean all that crap with Chris…I know you didn't mean to do it purposely."

Was _he_ actually apologizing? She smiled at him wanting to forgive him from everything he said. But she knew she had to be the one to apologize.

"It's not your fault Luke."

"Well part of it is." He insisted.

"No it's really not. I was the one who screwed things up. I was the one who let things go to far."

He shook his head but she kept speaking.

"I shouldn't have let Chris get in the middle of us. I really shouldn't have. And though I owe you more than an apology, this is the best I can do right now. At least at this hour." She said smiling. "You know I'm not a morning person."

"I know you're not."

He inched his head in closer and closer to hers. It was almost as if it was in slow motion. Too slow for him to handle. He crashed his lips against hers for a few long moments. He backed away and wrapped his arms around her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe. But right now, this moment, breathing wasn't a problem.

He rubbed her back soothingly, kissing her on her neck.

She could stay like this forever if she wanted.

And that is what she wanted.

To be with him, here, perhaps at a different hour, but with him.

And she got her dream.

_xxx_

"Mom!" Rory said rubbing her back in attempt to wake her up. "Mom…mom! My God are you dreaming about or something?"

Lorelai shot up in bed, looking around confused.

"Where is he?" She asked hazily.

"Who? Where is who?" Rory asked confused.

Lorelai took a minute to digest everything.

"Uh, nobody honey. I'll be right down."

"Okay."

"Right."

When Rory walked out of the door Lorelai got up the room and looked around. She went out to her window to see if anything looked different, but it didn't.

"It was a dream." She said quietly looking down at the floor. "It was just a dream."

_Man._

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"Ready?" Rory asked while Lorelai walked down the stairs.

"Yes, and I can't even tell you how much I'm craving these apple tarts."

"I know, I think we'll have to stuff some in our purses!"

"Sounds like a plan, mate. Got the big one?"

"Got it!" Rory said holding up a rather large purse.

"Then let's hit the road."

They headed towards the center of town to get towards Hartford. They drove down the quiet streets. Stars Hollow was never a loud city at night. Ever.

They approached the stoplight near the diner and both girls looked out the windows at the diner simultaneously.

Lorelai's stomach dropped. She felt like she had just been hit with a ton of bricks. Rory's eyes widened, but not too large in case her mom was watching.

Lorelai read the words carefully. Once, twice, as much as she could, over and over again just to make sure she wasn't imagining them.

A large red sign hung on the door. "FOR SALE." It was printed in big, bold white letters against the red background. Hanging underneath that was Luke's cardboard sign with his scribbly writing underneath it. "Closed until further notice. Thanks."

The light turned green and Lorelai hit the accelerator.

She bit her lip, not wanting to cry. Not here, not now, and especially not in front of Rory. 'Be strong.' She kicked herself, forcing herself not to let a tear slip. 'Just be strong and this will be over soon.' She couldn't stop thinking about the words. She meaning behind the few words that changed her life, as dramatic as that may sound.

They both looked straight ahead for the rest of the time not once saying a word to each other.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

"Lorelai we're so glad to see you!" A few of Emily and Richards close friends approached her, smiling politely and giving her huge hugs.

"Yeah, you too." Lorelai said quietly.

Emily watched out of the corner of her eye, mentally reminding herself to yell at Lorelai at how rudely she said that.

"Emily was just telling us the how the other night you came over and started dancing around the table to Emily's music insisting her to join you."

Lorelai thought back to the moment. 'Ah yes, being drunk.' She thought, but was careful not to say it out loud.

"Oh…yeah." She said sitting down. "I did, didn't I?"

Emily went up to Lorelai and dragged her up.

"We serve dinner on time young lady. When you're late, you forfeit the right to your cocktails."

"Oh well, whoopee." She walked over to the table and sat down next to one of their family friends.

The dinner talk with light and cheery, clear that just about everyone had the holiday joy…well, everybody except for Lorelai.

"So Lorelai how's the Dragonfly?" Denise, one of Emily's good friends asked.

"It's good." She said blandly, picking at her salad.

"That's such an accomplishment. To have your own business."

Lorelai continued digging in her salad, not bothering to look up and respond just yet. She was lost in her own thoughts. Continuing the meltdown within herself. She couldn't let it show though, _not_ here.

"It's a nice feeling." Lorelai said nodding, lacking eye contact.

At this point, Emily was just about fed up. Clearly, Lorelai wasn't in the mood to talk, though Emily didn't take into consideration why, she made it a big deal anyways.

"Lorelai can I see you in the kitchen please?"

"Why?" Lorelai shot not wanting to go with her mom. "I'm eating."

"Lorelai, the kitchen please."

Lorelai groaned loudly, throwing her napkin in her seat and walked into the kitchen.

"What is the matter with you?" Emily barked.

"What do you mean what's the matter with me?" Lorelai shot back.

"You've been nothing but rude to our guests. They all love when you are here, they think you're adorable and hilarious and love to catch up with you but you simply can't behave accordingly."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and continued listening, not even interested in arguing with her mother.

"Those people are very polite out there, they deserve some manners and you've been nothing but rude."

When Lorelai didn't respond, Emily began to wonder why she wasn't starting a fight with her. She looked into her daughters eyes and realized something was different but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I mean seriously Lorelai!" Her voice rose. "All I've seen you do is roll your eyes and be damn near a female monosyllabic clone of your boyfriend."

With that said, Lorelai shook her head, pouting her lips and looking at her mother coldly. She walked out into the dining room again, looking down hiding the tears forming.

"Where is your boyfriend anyways?" Emily asked, joining Lorelai in the dining room again.

At this point all the guests were watching.

Lorelai bit her lip and sniffled.

"Couldn't get out of the diner on a Friday night? Was it too busy Lorelai? Just couldn't bare a 3 hour break?" Emily snapped.

Lorelai looked up at her mother, eyebrows bowed. The hot tears were streaming down her face at this point. It was too much to ask for, holding in her pain. She had done it for too long and this was it. The hell with being bottled up for so long.

She turned to her daddy, bit her lip and spoke just above a whisper.

"Daddy," she sniffed, "can I go home now?"

Richard looked at his daughter with sympathy. Whatever it was she was going through, he felt bad watching his little girl crying in front of everyone else, wanting nothing more than to go home.

He put his arm on hers. "Yes. Yes you may."

Lorelai walked out of the room not once looking back. Not even curious as to what face Emily was wearing.

When Rory heard the door slam, she got up from her seat and walked over to Emily and Richard.

"Mom's not…with Luke anymore." She said calmly. "Thanks for dinner it was great." She said quietly before walking out the door.

She got in the car and Lorelai was on the passenger side crying to herself. Rory leaned over and patted her leg.

"Let's go home."

_xxx_

The drive home was quick. Rory rushed as much as she could. She couldn't stand watching her mother this upset. It made _her_ sad and she had to do something about it.

When they got home, she helped her walk up the stairs, linking arms with hers and settling her on the couch. She took both of their shoes off and went into the kitchen grabbing a pint of ice cream and handing it to Lorelai back in the living room. She sat down on the couch beside her, placed a blanket over them and put her arm around her mom, kissing her on her cheek.

"I'm ready to wallow now." Lorelai said so quietly Rory could hardly hear her.

She gave her mother another kiss.

It's going to be a long night.

* * *

This is what puts the angst in the genre part of our story! Review and let us know what you think! We're eager to know how you feel!

And the flashback was to all the flashback lovers! I know we're huge fans of them because trust us, them nothing being together is driving us crazy! And so it the hiatus! 2 weeks till a fresh episode! But don't worry; you'll get another update for that!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Pictures of You

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. It's all make believe.

**Authors Note: **Wow. So, a few things! A. We're flattered at the amount of reviews we got for the last chapter! It's _so_ nice of all of you to review and let us know what you think! It means a lot to us and we just wanted to say thank you! B. This chapter's a little shorter but it's in preparation for…C. The next chapter is the last! This fun angst-y ride is coming to a close, but that does mean you guys will get your happy Java Junkie ending we promised you from the beginning! Enjoy the chapter and please review! Let us know whatcha think whether you hate it, like it, love it, whatever! We love hearing from you!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Pictures of You**

"Finally. I thought you'd never wake up." Liz's cheery voice greeted Luke as he walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes from the sunlight pouring threw the window.

"It's only 10:00."

"Right and you never sleep until 10:00. It's hard to get you to sleep past 6:00."

He took into consideration the fact that he had previously spent immense amounts of nights sleeping at Lorelai's or vise versa. She'd never let him get out of bed past 10:00 on weekends with the exceptions of going to the bathroom because if he left all he'd hear is her whining while he was in the bathroom. "I'm cold! Get back in here so I can get to sleep before I get frost bite!"

And though it was during the summer, it was just her way of being sweet and he took it.

"Yeah well...I've been tired lately." He lied not wanting to explain Lorelai's morning theory.

"So, you promised you'd go see my friends with me tonight."

"Ah jeez..."

"Come on, you're a single man. My friends would love to see you."

"And I intend on staying single through out my stay here."

"I know that...I'm just saying that you should come out with us. You haven't really done much since you've been here."

"I know." He said taking a bite into an apple. "I don't know why you think I'm Mr. Social though. And I'm not sure why you'd think I'd enjoy spending the night with you and a bunch of your girls."

"Funny...cause I'd think that's every mans selfish dream."

"Alright maybe I stated that wrong. I don't want to hang out with my little sister and her friends. Especially since I know what kind of friends you have."

"Come on, bro!" She hit him on the arm. "It'll be fun."

"Yeah well...maybe." Until then, what do you say we eat? Where's TJ?"

"Early morning jog." Liz said nonchalantly leaning on the counter.

"He _jogs_?"

"Yes he does!" She said proudly.

"You've got yourself a good man there, Liz. He jogs _and_ he has an etch-a-sketch."

Liz smirked. "Hey don't make fun of him. Now make me some breakfast."

They spent the rest of the morning cooking breakfast, eating, talking, and watching a little TV. Luke had been there for about 4 days now, trying his absolute hardest not to think about Lorelai. But that was the only thing on his mind. He wondered how she reacted when she found out he left. Did she care? Was she upset or sad or mad? Probably not, he figured. Letting go could be easier this way.

He wouldn't know the answers unless he called her. And it's not like the thought didn't occur to him before. He thinks of calling her everyday as a matter of fact. But not knowing what he'd say...that's what stops him. Some days, he'll wake up thinking he should call just to say hi. Other days when he's going to sleep he promises himself to call her in the morning, apologizing for the pain he's probably caused her.

Bottom line is, every morning he wakes up with her in mind and every night he goes to sleep with her in mind.

And it'll probably be that way until he was sleeping...next to her.

But chances are, even then she'd be in his thoughts.

"Mails here." Luke said as he saw the mailman from out the window. "Maybe your dumb catalog you've been waiting for has finally gotten here."

"Oh!" Liz ran over to the mailbox outside and brought in a load of mail, flipping through it disappointedly.

"Bills, bills, bills, garbage, bills, Luke?" She said out loud.

"Yeah?"

"No, this is for you. It's addressed to you."

"Who the hell knows I'm here?"

"Somebody named Rachel apparently."

She handed him a large yellow envelope, the words DO NOT BEND stamped on the front.

"What is it?" Liz asked, sticking her nose in his business.

"I don't know. Give me a minute and maybe I will."

He opened the envelope and before taking whatever was inside of it out, he looked in the envelope and saw a glossy end of a photo. It looked like there were a few piled underneath it but that was all he saw. He couldn't make out what it was though because there was a note laying across the picture. All he saw was snow and...the corner of the gazebo? His eyes widened. These were_ the_ pictures.

He closed the envelope immediately and got up, walking towards the guest room.

"Hey where are you going?" Liz asked.

"I'll be back." He said gruffly before walking in and closing the door, making sure to lock it behind him.

Slowly and unsurely, he opened the envelope up, peeking inside again. He grabbed the note and set the envelope on the bed before reading it.

Dear Luke,  
Hopefully as you're reading this the pictures are still in good condition. You can never actually trust the stupid post men though. I sent you the copy's of pictures I took of you and Lorelai. One of them (the largest one) was the one that I included in the article, and let me tell you, I got pretty nice compliments on it. You're probably wondering how I figured out where you were. Let's just say that Stars Hollow isn't a small town. I called your apartment a few times and because I hadn't reached you a few days later, I just assumed you were incredibly busy with the diner, it being the holiday season and all. After quite a few attempts at both your house and the diner (which by the way, you need to get an answering machine for that diner of yours because a person could go crazy waiting for someone to answer that phone) I called Miss Patty. She told me you closed up and from that, we talked and came to the conclusion as to where you are staying. I'm not trying to intrude or anything, but I thought you'd like a copy of these pictures. And whatever's going on with you, I hope things are alright. Keep in touch.  
Take care,

Rachel

He re-read the letter twice, searching for subtext though he knew none was intended. The real reason he re-read it was because a part of him was nervous to open the envelope. Those pictures...it was when things were so complicated between the two of them. He didn't want to look at them but knew he should.

He set the letter in the envelope again and pulled out the pictures.

He looked at the first one that they took where Rachel had to show Lorelai how to stand. He actually cracked a smile thinking about the time. He traced his fingers over the image of Lorelai but quickly took his hand off that side of the picture when he realized what he was doing.

He turned to the next one of Luke's arms snaked around her waist, holding her closely. He could practically imagine taking in the scent of her as he started longingly at the pictures.

If he hadn't believed the phrase a pictures tells a thousand words, now he most certainly could.

The picture was a profile shot of them. Lorelai was smiling and had her hands on top of his. Luke's face was straight, but contempt. He looked happy.

The next picture was the one of them on the ground, when Lorelai took him down with her. Her bright blue eyes really popped out in this picture. Lorelai was smiling up at him, curiosity, passion and beauty through out her face. He spent a few extra seconds on that picture before putting it behind the others.

The last was the largest. It was the picture that they took when they made up. You could only see Lorelai's face, twisted back to look at Luke. She was smiling but something about it was familiar. He had seen that smile before. It was just any smile...not one of the 5 smiles he could classify as hers. This was a special smile.

It was the same smile she gave to him the night of their first date when he asked if she was scared because he was all in. It was almost scary how identical the smiles looked. Though it was almost too small and mysterious to call a smile. More like a grin. A grin that said only she knew how she felt. This was exactly like that.

* * *

**First Date**

"Does that...uh, are you uh scared?" He asked boldly. A smile of victory spread across his face.

Lorelai Gilmore was speechless for a change.

She looked down, blushing slightly curiosity sweeping threw her mind. This man captured her, she was in the spotlight.

She swung her head up and smiled at him for a few long seconds. She was about to say something, mouth opening, when the waitress approached their table.

"More champagne?"

They exchanged questioning glances and nodded their heads to each other.

"That'd be great." Lorelai replied sweetly.

The waitress poured them their champagne; the whole time Luke and Lorelai stayed transfixed on each other, both smiling ever so faintly.

When the waitress walked away, Lorelai held up her glass.

"If Luke Danes is all in," she clanked her glass against his and they both took a sip of their champagne. "Then I am too." She smiled at him.

Mysterious, his first thought was. Was that intended as a good or a bad thing? Because it's not like Luke Danes is the king of dating. He had just about no idea how to make this dating thing work. He just figured he'd need to find a way to work it out with Lorelai Gilmore. He wasn't going to screw this up. He smiled at her, figuring it was meant as a compliment. That if he could be all in for a change then so could she.

"Good." He said satisfied and she could tell.

She nodded confidently and that was when Mazie personally brought over their food setting it down in front of them.

"Wow, this looks great." Lorelai smiled looking at her plate of food. It was certainly not what she ordered. But that was okay because Luke warned her and after all, she did hear Mazie and Buddy agreeing on something to make them. She looked at her plate. No garlic, she thought to herself. Giving the guy a chance, she noted.

"How did I know you'd cook this Mazie?" Luke asked looking up at her.

"You know me too well Lucas."

With that, she walked away for the two of them to enjoy their dinner.

"So three days a week, huh?" Lorelai asked. "How do you manage coming here so much?"

"The same way you manage to come to the diner." He replied slyly as she laughed.

"I mean, I've never gone to the diner and not seen you there."

"Sure you have."

"No I haven't. How would you know if I were there if you weren't there?"

"Because you come in at least once a day so if I don't see you during the day, that means I'm here."

"Keeping tabs on my visits, are you?" She asked grinning.

"Keeping tabs on your visits." He nodded and took a bite of his food.

---

After diner and saying goodbye to Mazie and Buddy, they walked outside the restaurant and back to the truck. Luke opened the door for her before getting in himself and driving back.

"I'll probably regret not taking you up on that desert offer. After all it's very unlike me." Lorelai said rubbing her belly.

"You said you were full though."

"I was. But considering the fact that we won't be home for another 30 minutes, it gives me said time to get hungry. And dinner isn't complete unless there's desert."

"Well, we can go to the diner if you want." He said cautiously, not wanting to sound weird about the offer. "I'm sure there's something there you'd like."

She turned to him and smiled, shaking her head to herself. "Yeah, I'm sure there is." She bit her lip trying to cover up the childish smile threatening to pour across her face.

---

Close to 30 minutes later they pulled up in front of the diner. He opened her door for her and led her into the darkened diner, turning the lights on as they entered and locking the door behind them just in case.

She sat at the counter, putting her purse on the stool next to her. Luke walked behind the counter rolling up his sleeves and lifting the lid off the tray of pie.

"Pie?" He asked.

"Of course."

He cut her a piece and put it on a plate, handing it to her before walking back to sit next to her.

He couldn't help but notice she was dramatically shivering, clearly exaggerating though she might have actually been cold.

"It's freezing in here. Don't you think?"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Are you kidding? It's freezing!" She put her hands around herself and rubbed her arms in attempt to warm herself up.

"Lets go upstairs?" He asked nervously, not sure what her response would be.

She smiled. She picked up her plate and purse from the stool. They stood up never once loosing eye contact and headed upstairs to his apartment.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the door. He opened it for her and directed her to his couch. She caught a glimpse of his bed, taking in the fact that the size had definitely increased.

He took his coat off and hung it up before sitting next to her on the couch. He watched her eat her pie and smiled admiringly.

She couldn't help but notice how much he was smiling tonight. She felt proud knowing that the smile had to of had something to do with the date. She felt satisfied that she could make him smile.

"Warmer up here?" He asked.

"Definitely."

She took the last bite of her pie and leaned against the couch, lifting her shirt up a little and patting her stomach.

"Now I'm definitely full." She said and all he did was smile in return keeping his eyes fixed on her the whole time, patting her thigh for a quick second but leaving his hand there. Lorelai had to keep from shivering at the way his touch made her feel.

He couldn't help but stare at her. He had honestly never seen a more beautiful woman in his life, and to know that she was sitting on his couch made him feel like a giddy little school boy. At the same time, he couldn't help but think about their first two kisses and how they never did get to try that again.

Eyes still fixed on her; he leaned down in front of her meeting her face just short of her lips. He looked at her one last time before leaning in and kissing her softly, letting his hand rest on her arm.

Her sharp intake of breath made her lean up, increasing the kiss dramatically. She was now completely sitting up, her small hands wrapped around his waist pulling him closer to her. She teased him, tongue brushing over his bottom lip eager to step the kiss up. She opened her mouth allowing him to increase the kiss as he pulled her body closer to his.

He pulled away after a few moments just to make sure she still looked okay. Of course she looked okay...better than okay really, but to see if she looked _comfortable._ To make sure she wanted to be doing this.

She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his and smiled before leaning in and kissing him again, continuing where they left off. After a few minutes, he placed his hands around her shoulders taking her coat off with one swift move. She helped him by leaning into him so he could get a better grasp around her arms and put the coat on the couch all while Lorelai's stomach was tossing and turning, completely and utterly nervous. She had never experienced this feeling before. Right here, with Luke. It was almost as if she was dreaming, as if something could never feel quite this way. And as cliché, and fairy tale sounding as that may seem that's exactly how she felt and that's why it was so special.

He held her closely, as they explored each other, hand roaming everywhere. She reached from his back to his arms to his hands, back up to his face. While things seemed to be moving by quickly, in actuality it was going very slow and passionate, taking in the first time experiences for everything.

She broke away from the kiss as she felt Luke's hands creep underneath her top. Her heart practically stopped beating and her legs turned weak, face turning pale. As horrible as she sounded, it was just because she was nervous. It wasn't like she didn't want to do this because she did.

She bit her lip and searched for words as he looked at her curiously, hands still under her shirt.

"This reminds me of this time that I was watching this stupid show on TV, what's it called," she acted as if she was thinking of the title, "some stupid show on MTV and this girl was with her boyfriend and they were walking upstairs to her--"

"Lorelai." He said soothingly, removing his hands from underneath her shirt. "You're babbling."

"I know." She said quietly.

"Lorelai, if you don't want to do this we don't have to." He said with so much understanding and calmness.

She shook her head and held his hands. "No Luke, I do. It's just, this is new for me. That's all."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, it's new for me too."

She smiled and kissed him softly.

"It does." She said referring to his comment that them being together was new. Not to mention, nerve-wrecking as hell.

He held her hand and helped her up from the couch, walking her over to the side of his bed. The apartment was dark just about the whole time they were there, with the small effects of the light in the kitchen. She looked up at him and began unbuttoning his shirt revealing his bare chest as the material fell to the floor. He placed his hands at the bottom of her shirt, waiting for her to give him some sort of okay. Her silence, instead of her MTV babbling was okay enough. He lifted her shirt over her head, throwing it on the floor beside his. She leaned up and kissed him intensely, hands gliding over his chest as he fumbled with the button of her pants in attempt to remove them. When completed with that, she took her turn with his. It was as if it was a game. Her turn, his turn.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closely, lowering her onto the bed as he leaned over her. In one swift move, he flipped her over so that she was on top of him as they continued kissing passionately.

He held her small, petite body on top of his, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her, caressing her sides in attempt to keep her warm.

She broke away from him after a moment, pressing her forehead against his and smiling before caving in to his look. It was almost impossible to be away from him, as he gazed in her eyes admiring her consideration to take the actions of the night slow, _but surely._

Cause from the beginning, tonight was meant to be magical.

_x-x-x_

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm went off the next morning.

"Mmm." Lorelai moaned not wanting to get up.

"Sorry," he apologized. Lorelai almost forget where she was but when she reached over and felt Luke, she remembered exactly where she was. "I forgot to turn the alarm off."

"Bad alarm. Bad, bad alarm." She mumbled as Luke went to turn the alarm off. When he laid back down, Lorelai adjusted herself with his arm wrapped around her. "What time is it?" She asked after laying her head on his chest.

"Early."

"Hate early. Must kill early."

Luke sighed and played with her hair before kissing her on the top of her head.

"Okay I gotta get up." She said out loud though laughed to herself knowing she couldn't get up just yet. Sure she had a job to get to, but she didn't to leave Luke. Not when his body was serving as the perfect body pillow.

"Why?" He asked clearly not wanting her to get up either.

"Work. Inn. Buy shoes." Exactly what had to be done, she thought. "Oh my god I can't move. I need coffee."

"I don't have coffee up here. It's all downstairs."

"Ah, downstairs." She new that would be the only trick to get her up. She leaned down, kissing him on the chest a few times before reaching for his plaid shirt and put it on as she walked out the front door.

She rubbed her eyes as she walked down the stairs, leaving her arms by her nose as she inhaled the smell of his shirt. As she walked down the stairs she realized that the buttons weren't buttoned up all the way so she worked her way with that. As she completed the last button she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up.

Oh wow. There was quite the crowd.

She calmly looked over the familiar faces in the diner as she stood there in disbelief. 'How are all these people here already when I was just lying in bed with Luke 2 seconds ago?' She heard a few mumbles and a few giggles before she smiled and ran back up the stairs.

She entered his apartment in a huff, storming to the side of the bed. She glared at him as she saw him sleeping again.

"Well I think people are gunna know!" She said loudly waking him up.

"What?" Luke said turning on the bed and gazing up at her. 'She even looks good in the morning' he thought to himself. "What are you talking about? Why are you wearing my shirt?"

"I put it on to go get coffee." She said like he was supposed to know. Which, he would have if perhaps he wasn't half asleep when she told him.

"Downstairs?"

"Well you don't keep it upstairs!" She said referring back to before when he told her he had no coffee upstairs.

"The diners open."

"You're kidding!" She said sarcastically.

"You walked into the diner like that?" He asked trying to hold back the laughter.

"I didn't think the diner could open without you!" She whined.

"I had Caesar open."

"Well he did, with a floor show." Still the sarcasm in her voice.

"Okay, so, maybe nobody noticed." He tried. Though well aware that was a lie.

"Look at me!" He took a second to look her over as if he hadn't been the whole while she was standing in front of him.

"Okay yes. Well, you wear crazy outfits all the time."

"They usually include pants." She had to give him some credit for that though, for she did usually wear pretty crazy outfits.

"Okay so they no. So what? I mean they're gunna find out eventually right?" He didn't really mind if people knew. He figured he'd get bombarded with questions for a little while but after that things would be smooth.

"Right. So, we'll hear about it for a few days." She said knowingly.

"Few weeks." Luke reassured her.

"Six months of hearing about it but then it'll die down." Luke had to smile to himself noticing the implication that they'd actually be together for 6 months.

"We'll be used to it."

"And everything will get back to normal, so okay, they know. It's out."

"It's out." Lorelai laughed a little. "Where's your coffee?" He asked.

She looked down at herself and looked back up at Luke. "Mmm hmm."

Luke got up and walked around towards her. "_I'm_ getting your coffee."

"Smart idea." He grabbed a pair of pants and a tee-shirt from his dresser and threw them on quickly. As he walked past her, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"Hey come here." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Good morning."

He smiled and rubbed her arm. "Good morning."

"Sleep well?" She asked smiling flirtatiously.

"Sort of. There was this annoying person on top of me the whole time complaining they were cold." He joked even though that really did happen.

"Sounds annoying."

He leaned in and gave her another kiss before walking out the door and headed down the stairs not nervous at all. He was almost excited that he could finally show Lorelai off as _his_.

He walked into the diner and looked around. The crowd was furious. There were people every where. 'Lorelai didn't mention there were this many people...' he thought.

As soon as people saw him, the noise within the diner increased. He made a note that Patty and Babette sat in the corner looking casual as ever.

He placed a cup on the counter and poured it to the top for Lorelai. Kirk was sitting at the counter at this point looking at him.

"How you doin Kirk?" Luke asked a little too politely.

Kirk smirked and winked in response.

Luke shook his head and peeked into the kitchen. "Caesar you okay in there?"

"Fine boss!" He shouted.

"Great. I'll be upstairs."

Everyone's eyes shot in his direction as he smiled and waved lightly with his free hand before walking back up the stairs

When he was out of sight, Kirk shoot up from the stool and started screaming. "I won the pool!" He walked over to Babette and Patty.

"Pay up ladies! I won the bet." He said holding his hand out to the women who glared at him in response.

Becoming frightened, Kirk took a step back. "I'm gunna go. It's time to wake mother up." He ran out of the diner.

_x-x-x_

Luke walked into his apartment as Lorelai walked out of the bathroom wearing the same clothes she wore last night.

She smiled as she saw him walk in.

"Here's your coffee."

They walked over to the kitchen table and both took a seat. "Thank you very much." She took a sip and smiled largely. "Mmm." She gazed at him from across the brim of her cup and couldn't help but smile...because he was too.

"There must have been 30 people crammed into that diner." He commented.

"Really?" She thought for a second. "Crowd must have thickened since I was down there."

"I bet." He said nodding. "So what's on your schedule today?"

"I've gotta leave in a few minutes and head to the Inn. I told Sookie I'd come a little earlier. And then...I'll probably just go to the town meeting." Luke rolled his eyes and Lorelai laughed. "Want to come with me?" She asked sweetly.

"I hate those meetings."

"I know you do but you still have to go."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Alright, well I'll meet you here then."

"Sounds good."

They were quiet while Lorelai finished her cup of coffee. Luke played with his hands on top of the counter as Lorelai watched. She reached out and held his hands. "Hey." He looked up at her. "I had a really, really great time last night."

He nodded his head and smiled. "So did I." He said shyly.

"Well, good. Though I'm afraid I've gotta go."

"That's alright. I should probably get down to the diner anyways."

"Good, so you'll walk me down? I'd be scared to go down there alone."

"Yeah, I'll take you." They got up and as Luke put her cup in the sink, she walked over to get her jacket and purse.

He opened the door for her and motioned for her to leave. "After you."

"Thank you." She said turning back and smiling at him.

They walked down the stairs, Lorelai more nervous than Luke, but excited all at the same time. When they walked out from the curtains, everybody shut up and their eyes averted to them.

"Uh, hi." Lorelai said lamely.

A few people said hi, a few people stayed quiet, and a few people continued their previous conversation.

They walked outside the door standing on the steps right outside and everyone watched them as they exchanged their goodbyes.

"Oh hey do you need me to drive you home? I forgot you don't have a car."

Lorelai thought for a second but didn't want to intrude. "That's okay. You don't have to."

"No it's fine, really. Gives the diner time to calm down."

"You sure?" She asked, leaning her head to the side.

"Yeah, of course. Let's go."

He held the door open for her as she got in and walked around the other side, glancing in the diner as he did. Everybody turned around quickly as they noticed he saw them.

"Town's crazy."

"Aint that the truth." Lorelai agreed.

_x-x-x_

A few minutes later, they pulled into Lorelai's driveway. She turned to him and smiled.

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem."

She bit her lip, hiding her childish grin and leaned into him.

"And thanks for last night." She kissed him softly, as he rested his hand on her thigh.

"Anytime." He said pulling away.

"So, you'll call?" She asked hopefully.

"I'll call."

"Great. And I'll see you tonight too."

"Yeah. Tonight."

With one last kiss, she got out of the car and headed towards the door. He watched her with a stupid smile on his face as she fumbled with her keys, turned around and waved as the door opened, and closed the door in front of him.

She leaned against the back of the door and sighed, smiling larger than ever, resulting in a small squee.

* * *

Through out the past 5 months or so with her, he had experienced a lot of smiles but nothing like _the_ smile.

He took one last glance at the pictures and leaned over putting his shoes on. He got up and grabbed his keys from the dresser, walking out of the room with his bags in hand.

"Liz...I'm gunna get going." He said walking into the living room.

"What? Already?"

"Yeah, I've really gotta get back." He said impatiently.

"Are you sure you're...ready to go back?"

"I'm ready."

She stood up and held her arms out to him. He walked over and gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Anytime. And hey." She pulled away from him and smiled. "I hope things work out with you and her." She said, trying to avoid Lorelai's name.

He nodded his head. "Tell T.J. I said bye."

"I will. Drive carefully. And don't be a stranger. Call me."

"I will Liz. Thanks again."

With that, he took off and headed home.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

A few hours later, he arrived back into the familiar streets of Stars Hollow. Nothing changed, he noted to himself.

He had spent the car ride thinking about her. Everything about her. The way he wanted to see her, to talk to her, to apologize to her for everything. He was sick of living the way he had been and knew there was only one way to fix that.

He knew if he went to his apartment first, he may loose the nerves to go see her so he headed straight to her house.

He parked his truck across the street and hopped out of the car, nervous but quickly. He wanted to just do it. Get things over with.

He walked up to the stairs, passing her jeep and another car sitting in the driveway. Even if Rory was home, he was going to do this.

As he walked up the front steps of the porch, his stomach grew nervous and he closed his eyes one last time before knocking.

As he lifted his hand to knock on the door he heard something. His eyes widened and mouth fell open.

"I love you." He heard her say in a calm, rational voice to whoever was inside.

His first instinct was to bust in and raise hell. But he knew not only was that wrong, but probably would result into something worse than imaginable. He turned around before he could hear another word from her mouth. As he walked past the car in her driveway, he questioned if it was Rory's. Rory doesn't drive a Volvo. He knew he had seen the car before, just not sure where.

He gazed into the window and saw all he needed to see.

A car seat with baby toys spread across the back.

* * *

**A/N 2:** So, this chapter was mainly just a flashback. As you can tell the present day stuff was pretty short, but we wanted to get another chapter out to you before the last one because it'll probably take a little longer to post. But I'm a big fan of the flashbacks & hopefully you guys are too. I'm sure you hate us with that cliff hanger of an ending, but we still love you! Please review & tell us what you think! We'll see you for the last chapter in just a little while…

Oh, and yay for the new episode of GG on Jan. 25!!


	8. Chasing Destiny

**Disclaimer:**Eight chapters later, they still aren't mine.

**Important A/N's:** Hmm, where to begin? That is the question.

This story has come a long way! Lots of planning and thinking, it's sadly over though. Annick and I had a kick ass time writing it. We really hoped you liked it as much as we did. We want to say thank you to every single person that's reviewed. That ALWAYS made us happy and we appreciated everything you said. We had no idea the feedback would turn out this great!

Besides people on fan fiction, I've gotta say thanks to everybody on fanforum! You guys are the best and thanks for all the encouragement! I'll miss your chants, but this is for you! 

And lastly, I want to give a _huge_ thanks to Annick! She was the brilliant one who came up with this idea! If it weren't for her there would be no story in the first place! So, even though I "hate" you at times because you're a…haha, I won't say what 'you are', I still love ya! You're the best and thanks for letting me write this for you! Catfight Productions for life, woman! And…I don't know maybe we'll even be friends after this is over. Wink-wink.

So after almost 2 weeks of waiting, here's the final chapter. I hope you guys enjoy the ending.

Beware: it's long and _fluffy._ But after this long, I think you guys deserve the fluff!

And _please_ review! We're dying to know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Chasing Destiny**

It was a rude awakening, the sound of his cell phone buzzing, but he insists on having it on vibrate. Lorelai said that was always called for a 'dirty!' though he thought the sound of ringing was annoying and painful to the ears.

Who could possibly be calling? He wondered. He hadn't had any contact with the outside world for 10 days. Straight after he heard Lorelai say…what she did…he bolted and went to the first place that came to his mind. His cabin.

He would have stayed in town and tried to resolve things with her for both of their own goods, but not after what he heard her say. And though he tried not to jump to conclusions, he knew it was to Christopher…it was his car after all, not some strangers.

And it wasn't all because it was Christopher, the reason he got so mad. The other part was because he and Lorelai had never said I love you to each other. Often times Luke wanted to say he loved her but the timing or setting never felt right. And it wasn't because he didn't mean it because God knows he's meant it and known it for years.

But someone was calling and if he wouldn't stop reminiscing, he'd miss the call. It's not like that'd be bad, because it wouldn't…but it would mean the stupid person would probably keep calling back.

He picked up his cell phone and cursed himself for not getting a phone with caller ID.

"Hello?" He cleared his throat upon hearing his scratchy voice.

"Is this Luke?" A man chirped from the other line.

"Uh yeah, this is Luke." He sat up and looked around his room. "Who's this?"

"Ah, Luke. It's great to speak to you. The name's Sam…I'm new to Stars Hollow."

"Well uh, I'm sorry about that." He said in all seriousness.

"What are you sorry about? The place is great! The people are great! Everything's just…great."

Luke coughed and cleared his throat again, hoping to get the guy to move on.

"Anyways, I'm calling about the diner."

Luke's eyes widened. He had almost forgotten about putting the diner up for sale. This was the first call he got.Damn Stars Hollow for being such a small town, he thought as he realized this Sam character probably got his cell phone from one of the stupid townies because the number on the For Sale poster was for the diner's agency.

"What about the diner?" He asked harshly.

"I'm interested in buying it! Real interested actually."

The thought of turning him down crossed his mind. What would he do without the diner? Sure he didn't expect to stay in the cabin forever…but he didn't expect to hear Lorelai say I love you to somebody else either.

Things happen.

"Uh, that's great. Renting of buying?"

"Buying of course."

"Well…I'm not in town right now…but I can arrange to come see you in person so we could discuss some of the things and sign some of the papers." He offered.

"Great. Well when are you going to be home?"The word 'home' stung him like a bee. It sounded so foreign to him. Especially since right now, he didn't exactly have a 'home.'

"Whenever you need me I guess."

"Great. How about you come by tomorrow? We could check things out and if things so as well as I hope they do…you can stick around for the Christmas party. Maybe you can give me the 'scoop' on all the weird people in town."

"Meet you at the what?"

"The Christmas party. Oh, you probably didn't know about it. It's at the Dragonfly Inn. I'm not sure how long you've been gone so you might not know…there's a pretty new local inn—"

"Yeah I know what the Dragonfly is." He said rolling his eyes. "I haven't been gone for 7 months ya know."

"Well anyways…they're having a Christmas party. We could meet at the diner if you'd like tomorrow around 4 or so, and then if things go as well as I plan for them to go, you can stick around for the party…Tuesday."

Luke thought about the plans and realized there was no way that he could stick around for 5 days. But if he had to make the effort to be on a good note with Sam, he would have to go, at least for a little while.

Then the thought of Lorelai crossed his mind. He couldn't face her. He really couldn't, no matter how much he wanted too.

"Actually I don't think—"

"Hold on." He said cutting him off. "I'm talking to Luke!" He heard Sam call out. "Yes, the Luke we may be buying the diner from if you could be quiet…sorry Luke. Wife's getting a little antsy."

"Uh that's fine…"

"So tomorrow…I'll see you around 5?"

"Well Sam, that will work but you see—" He tried his absolute hardest to say he couldn't come to the party but he kept cutting him off.

"Sorry to cut this short but I've got another phone call I've got to take. See you tomorrow Luke."

"Yeah." The phone went dead and Luke slowly put it down. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said leaning his head against the headboard, rubbing his eyes and sighing.

"Well…" he said out loud, "if I'm going to make this change official, I'll have to see her at least once."

He laid back down and tried to fall asleep.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

Ring! Ring!

The next morning, Lorelai opened her eyes and squinted at the sunlight, grabbing her phone from the side of her bed.

"Hello?" She mumbled.

"Wake up sleepy head!"

"Sookie?"

"You told me to call you and wake you up…your alarm doesn't work anymore…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm up…"

"So, get on up."

"I am."

"Alright, well…I'll take your word on that. I'll call you later sweetie."

"Ok, thanks Sook." She closed her phone and held it in her hands for a few minutes.

Opening her eyes again, she opened the phone to see the date.

**December 18th** the bold letters read. She couldn't help but think how late it was getting…it would be Christmas soon and once again she had no one to spend it with…besides Rory.

It had been weeks since she had talked to him. About three weeks…and she pretty much lost hope on him calling. She could call him…the thought has crossed her mind plenty of times…but she wasn't the one that left. He did. And it was his responsibility.

If he didn't want to call, fine.

She got out of bed and glanced at the clock. 11:00.

Sookie was supposed to call at 10:30 but whatever. What's an extra 30 minutes?

She went straight into the shower, prepping up for her day off. She had a few things she wanted to do. First and foremost, clean her closet and dresser. He used to have a few sets of clothes at her house. He kept them in the bottom shelf of her drawer even though she complained that's where her sweat pants were. He always said he'd take them out if it made her feel better but she insisted otherwise.

When it came to Lorelai, there were never any questions. If she wanted something one way, he'd so his best to do it _that_ way. His number one goal in their relationship was to make her happy, because making her happy instantly made him happy.

And though their relationship started out so fragile, so new and inexperienced that it could almost 'break' at anytime because they have no previous familiarity, he tried his absolute hardest to make things work because this was the way he wanted to spend his time. With her.

When she got out of the shower, she flew to her closet, putting on her robe and ran downstairs. It hit her quickly, her desperate need for coffee at that specific moment.

As she walked down the stairs, she avoided the left side of the third step down because it had an annoying creak that occurred when stepped on. She walked around the corner, gazing out the foggy glass of the front door, peeking at the fresh blanket of snow lying across her yard. It must have snowed last night.

She turned the coffee on and waited impatiently at the table, glancing over to check on the pot every few seconds. When it was finally full, she poured herself a cup and sat down on the couch in the living room, sipping her coffee slowly while gazing out the window.

She had missed him. A lot. Really, like nothing else before. She never really had the opportunity to miss somebody so much...in this scenario especially.

Sure, she had missed Max when he was away on business before they got married...or Jason when he had business trips with her dad, though she missed his company more than the actual presence of _him._

She knew right away he wasn't a soul mate, Jason, but she enjoyed having somebody to bond with. Even though at times, it scared her that he was so much like her, she figured it was a good thing…to date somebody who was exactly like you. Someone who loves coffee, hates their parents, eats the same food as you, watches the same movies as you...she thought they were a match made in heaven...without the actual physical and mental attraction. That's where she went wrong.

But with Luke, she knew it was right. And it could have been because they spent 8 years dancing around each other, waiting for the absolute perfect time to finally realize who they both were...especially together. How happy the two of them could be if they ever got their acts together.

And they finally did, this being probably one of the smartest moves she's ever made before. And we all know Lorelai has a sense to make the wrong decisions.

Yes, we definitely know all of that now.

Her trait to screw things up was a specialty she tried to avoid at all costs with Luke because he was something different and the feeling of unfamiliarity made her sting with anticipation, always wondering what would be next. It was the surprises, the secret calls, meetings, date...the little things that counted with Luke.

It was the fact that he made her laugh more than any other guy before. He was the only guy who could make Lorelai feel the way she did around him. Free, herself-not the constant feeling of needing to impress somebody. She felt alive when she was with him, the constant need to be kissing him, or holding onto his arm. The fact that when she'd sleep at his house, she'd always get him to sleep in later causing the diner to open later cause he didn't call Caesar in advance.

She almost felt like a wife, without the actual label, though in her eyes he was the one she pictured herself to be with. And sure, it all seems very girly and corny, two words that don't pair well together, but maybe that's why she liked him as much as she did. He made her feel different. Happy. Absolutely happy. Unlike any other happiness before.

And as she thought of all the happy times they shared together while sipping her steaming coffee, gazing out the window, she realized: he wasn't going to call.

If he wanted to talk to her, it would have been weeks ago. Fine, maybe days ago, but at least some time _ago_. If he wanted to be with her, she wouldn't be sitting her lazy ass on the couch on December 18th, weeks after they had last talked.

Clearly, he had moved on. And though the memories they shared were absolutely unforgettable, the way he made her feel, she figured the time to let go is now.

She put her cup on the table and walked upstairs in a huff. She headed half way up the stairs before turning around quickly and walking back down towards the closet in the hall. She opened it up and looked in the back, ducking underneath coats that were at this point, falling on top of her head.

"Got it!" She said out loud in victory. She pulled out a large empty brown box and climbed up the stairs to her room.

She threw it on the floor and opened the bottom drawer.

"Everyone deserves at least there very own box." She mumbled.

She sat herself on the ground in front of her dresser and examined the contents in it.

"Never mind." She huffed. "First things first."

She got up and opened her closet, searching for her number one favorite shirt. The blue plaid one she always kept to herself. She hid it in the back of her closet so he couldn't find it. It was the same shirt she wore on their first date…and the last shirt of his that he saw her in.

She grabbed it from the hanger and plopped it in the box. Followed by that, she sat on the ground again and looked in the bottom drawer. She took out two tee shirts he kept there, a grey one and a white one. She smelt them quickly to see if his scent still remained on them but it didn't. She was almost disappointed but suddenly realized what she was doing.

"If he's not going to call…fine." She said out loud to herself. "Then _I'm _not going to wait."

She took a few more things out of the dresser and put them in the box before getting up and grabbing his belt from the chair in the corner of her room. It was actually the same belt that she got him a few years back.

As she reached for that, she caught something from the corner of her eye. The image of a glossy photo lying on top of her dresser rested there carefully. It was a picture that Rory took of her and Luke a few months ago. It was during movie night and Rory had just got them refills of their drinks. Lorelai rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, legs thrown over his lap. Very flexible, a quality they both enjoyed. Yes, dirty.

She told Rory to try and take a picture of them. She turned around as she heard Rory walk in and pointed to the table where the camera rested. She mouthed 'now' to her and Rory called Luke's name. As soon as he turned around she took a picture. He had his mouth open, ready to speak, as Lorelai sat there laughing. It was a cute picture.

But it had to go.

She threw it in the box and went threw the other drawers in her dresser.

She went straight to the bottom of the middle shelf because that's where all the clothes she hadn't worn in a while were. She saw a pair of pajamas that looked like they hadn't been worn in a while. She took them out of the dresser and examined them.

It was a slinky white tank top with little fish on them with matching little shorts.

"Me? Fish?" She asked herself out loud. "Oh my God."

It hit her like the need for coffee…where Luke is staying

* * *

**Late July**

"You know, you're the first person that I've ever brought here." He said, placing the key in the door.

"I feel special." She said childishly, a silly grin on her face.

He turned the door knob and looked up at her, smiling. "You are."

Simple things like that made her stomach flutter.

They walked into the cabin. It was old. It smelt like burnt wood and pine trees. It almost smelt good to Ms. Sheltered over there. It was small and simple. All one big room with the exception of a small bedroom and a tiny bathroom. There was a small fireplace enclosed in the wall near the back. She walked over and looked at a ledge where there was a picture of an older couple. It was certainly old, placed in a simple silver frame. She picked it up from the ledge and studied the couple.

Luke walked up in back of her and put an arm around her waist.

"Those are my parents."

Lorelai smiled softly, turning her head over her shoulder to look at Luke.

"They make a beautiful couple." She said in all honesty. "No wonder where you got your good looks from."

She set the frame back on the ledge and turned around in his arms, kissing him softly.

"Thanks for bringing me here."

He nodded.

"I know you're not very big on bringing people down here."

"It's nothing special." He said nonchalantly.

"I know. It's just nice to see where you go every once and a while."

"I guess it is."

She walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Nice bed." She said suggestively.

Luke smiled and sat down next to her.

"Hey Luke?" She laid down on her back, legs still planted on the floor.

"Yeah?" He gazed down at her.

"Do you think your parents would have liked me?" She asked, studying the ceiling.

He grabbed her hand and caressed it softly. "They would have loved you."

She sat up quickly and studied his face. "Really? You're not just saying that?" She pestered.

"You know-and I mean this as a compliment though it might sound sort of weird-you remind me of my mom."

"Uh, I'm glad to know that when we..." she bit her lip, "make love, I remind you of your mom."

"Did I say that's when you remind me of my mom?" He asked, slightly disgusted. She laughed it off.

"No."

"I mean, your personality is a lot like hers. She was very quirky and witty, always the last to say something in a discussion. She was quite stubborn to, come to think of it. She bossed my dad around like no other."

"Ah, did she?" She said raising her eyebrows.

"But he was in love with her." He gazed off to the side, and then averted his eyes back into Lorelais. "He didn't care what she did."

"Aw," she leaned her face closer to his, "that's so sweet."

"Yeah."

She kissed him passionately, smiling through the kiss.

"We'll save that for later, mister. I do believe I said I'd make you dinner..."

"Man I'm looking forward to that. Sure I shouldn't just dump a bunch of my food in the dirt? Might taste the same."

She ignored his comment. "And a lady never breaks a promise..."

"...The chances of getting food poisoning are probably the same..."

"...But this promise can be broken." She pushed him to the side. "I'll show you what food poisoning is" she laughed, leaning over and kissing him feverishly.

After a few minutes of 'wrestling' on the bed, she pulled him up and fixed his collar on his shirt.

"Come on. Let's get dinner started."

"I thought you said I couldn't help."

"I did."

"My mistake. I thought that_ let's_-meaning let _us-_ get dinner started meant you and I." He said sarcastically.

"Stop it." She shoved him out of the door. "Go sit on the couch and watch TV." He walked over to the couch and followed her rules.

"I'll watch TV even though I think watching you would be more entertaining."

"Shush, you." She looked over at the TV he was turning on. "My God, that's a small TV."

"Yeah well I'm not here often. No need to waste my money on a big one."

"Wise man you are. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"Oh, all the time." He grinned and turned his attention back to the TV while Lorelai started the food.

About half way into the process, a life saving phone call from Rory arrived.

"Hello?" She opened her phone and rested it on her shoulder as she tried stirring the contents in the bowl at the same time.

"Hi mom!"

"Oh. Hi Rory. What's up?"

"Nothing really, I was just walking back from my class...I thought I'd give you a call."

"Well—ouch—that's very thoughtful of you."

"Yeah, I thought so. Where are you? You sound sorta fuzzy."

"And here I thought that was impossible." She joked.

"And you are…"

"Actually…I am at Luke's cabin." Lorelai said, clearly still amazed at the way it sounded.

"Huh. You don't say!"

"I…do say."

"You're kidding. Man that's strange."

"Uh, no I'm not kidding. I'm sorry—why is that strange?"

"I just never thought Luke would let you go to his cabin, that's all."

"Well he did and…I'm here. Cooking him dinner actually."

"Oh, now please tell me you're kidding about that."

"Funny, funny girl I birthed."

"…Because if you weren't, I'd call health services right now."

"…I know the wittiness skipped the Emily Gilmore generation, but never did it fail to skip you."

"…We can actually call them together on three way, it'll be sort of fun. We could switch off every sentence to confuse the guy."

"Now that's my always-wanting-to-confuse-people girl I raised."

"Sorry it's just…you, cooking?"

"Humorous, yes I know, but none the less, it will be good."

Luke laughed in the background while Lorelai rolled her eyes. She turned around to grab a spoon and hit her side on the rim of the counter.

"Ouch!" She screamed into the phone.

"Are you okay?" Luke turned to her quickly and began walking towards her.

"What happened?" Rory asked on the phone.

"I hit my hip on the side of the counter. And it was pointy!" Lorelai wailed.

Luke walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, massaging her left side lightly, making her automatically feel better at his touch.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmm hmm." Lorelai mumbled into the phone, incoherent thoughts passing by as Luke stayed close to her. "I'm gunna go sweetie. I'll talk to you later though."

"Okay. Enjoy yourself. And…don't make Luke eat your food. Especially if you like having him around."

"In a little while, he won't be the one that's not around."

"I'm just saying—"

"This is me hanging up now."

"Bye."

Lorelai turned around and wrapped her arms around Luke's waist, pulling him into a hug as she rested her head on his chest.

"Rory thinks you'll die if you eat my food."

He kissed the top of her head and patted her back. "I won't…die."

She raised her head and looked at him. "Yes you will. Screw this."

She took of the mini-apron she was wearing and threw it on the floor.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand and led him into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them.

_xxx_

Breathless, they lied partially on top of each other, legs intertwined.

"You know…" Lorelai said in-between breaths; "If you did eat the food I made…you would have worked off all the calories just now."

"I wasn't worried about working off the calories. I was worried about working off the stomach ache."

"Well, we all know how to cure a stomach ache."

Luke grumbled. "Don't be gross."

"No grossness coming from me." She said, pretending to seal her lips.

"Come on, let's get up and go eat something. I'm starving."

Lorelai got out of bed and walked over to her overnight bag, taking out a pair of little pajama's she got especially for the trip.

"Look at these." She said, proudly holding a tank and shorts with fishes on them. "I got them because I thought we'd go fishing."

"Are you serious?" He asked almost laughing. Not only was it to cold to go fishing, but Lorelai would never agree to join him.

"Not serious at all. I just got them because fish remind me of cabins."

He questioned her thinking but moved on. "If you say so."

They both got re-dressed, Lorelai into her pajamas, Luke into sweat pants and a tee shirt, a look Lorelai always admired.

Luke made them both dinner and they ate at the little wooden table in his kitchen.

"Yummy, cow. Just the way I like it too." She looked over at Luke's plate and grimaced. "Hey does your turkey want to play with my cow?"

"That was incredibly dirty." He mumbled before taking a bite of his turkey burger.

"I'm a dirty princess." She smiled foolishly and took a bite of her real burger.

"That, I know."

"I know you know."

"I know you know I know."

Lorelai laughed. "I know you know I know you know."

"You're four."

"No I'm not. Cause if I were, me being your girlfriend would absolutely be illegal." She giggled.

"You're right. Sorry. You're two."

"Well if I'm two what the hell does that make you? Are _you_ four?"

"Eat your burger."

"Yes, sir."

When dinner was finished, it was already almost 9:00. They vetoed the idea of watching a movie and went straight to the bedroom.

"So, what do you say? Role-play tonight? I could be the dirty princess we were talking about before and you can be my incredibly sexy prince who I just can't resist? Gosh, I'm a genius. Humor _and_ rhyming, folks. Yes, that is Lorelai Gilmore."

"Do you ever shut up?" He said kissing her in attempt to quit the talking. "You know, I don't know why you bought these pajamas. We're you really expecting to wear them this whole weekend?"

"Dirty!" She giggled as he gently lowered her onto the bed.

* * *

She took one long stare at the pajamas and threw them, not quiet making it in the box, instead landing on the floor.

She got up, put on the first pair of clothes she could find because a robe wouldn't work for this and left.

No makeup, no hair fixing, no shoes, no purse, no nothing.

Illegal in so many different ways, she got in the car and left before she could turn back.

_xxx_

Sure enough, two hours later she was in front of Luke's cabin. There were no cars around. She figured he had parked in the back of the cabin, but didn't care to look.

The whole ride up she had been thinking of things to say. It wasn't going to be an 'I'm sorry' speech. That's one thing she for sure had figured out.

It would be more of a final farewell. Believing her thoughts, that Luke just wasn't going to come back home, she wanted to at least say bye. Bye and thanks. Thanks for not calling, thanks for leaving her without any notice, thanks for ever caring, thanks for making her hurt…and thanks for everything before anything. Sure it didn't make sense, but in her head it did. Really and truly, thanks for being you, because believe it or not, he was supposed to be the one.

Supposed being the keyword.

There was no door bell on the cabin...a simple engraved door knocker...dirty...sat still on the door frame. She could either knock using that, or her hand. She thought the knocker would be too loud and for some reason, silence was ideal at a moment like this.

Standing still, nervous with fear, she lifted her hand and that itself was progress. Knocking was all she had to do. It wasn't that hard, was it? Just lift your hand and...go. She knocked loudly a few times and tapped her foot in anticipation, head facing down. After about a minute and still no answer, she figured he didn't hear it...after all, she was very quiet. This time she used more force and pounded more loudly but there was still no answer.

Leaving was a possibility but not after the drive up there, even though there wasn't much more she could do. He wasn't there. Either he had left the cabin, or...he wasn't there to begin with. There was only one way to find out.

She placed her hand on the door knob and opened it slowly, peeking her head in before anything else.

"Luke" She said quietly. The place certainly smelt like him...that's for sure. "Luke are you in here" Well aware that he wasn't, she walked into the cabin and shut the door behind her.

She walked into the kitchen and looked in the sink where there were a few cups and plates sitting. She opened the fridge and saw food which was a good sign. She knew that snooping around Luke's cabin wasn't a good idea but she was doing it anyways. She walked over to the main room and scanned the coffee table-even though he didn't drink coffee-to examine the contents upon it. Some sports magazine, a TV guide, some sort of fishing tool (or at least she figured)...nothing special. The room looked clean, remotely as if nobody had been there.

She walked toward his bedroom, sighing as she approached the door...recalling the happy memories they shared there. She walked to his side of the bed...the left, and sat on the bed, fixed in a trance until she noticed something that made her stomach drop.

His hat...was most certainly not on his head. His hat was on the floor. Clearly.

Her mouth opened as she picked up his hat and examined everything about it. Amazed that he wasn't wearing it...he always wears it...unless they're on a date. Her stomach dropped yet again as the thought of Luke dating another woman passed through her mind. But the thought was a passing ship...nothing more.

She got up and stood in front of the mirror hanging on the wall. She put the hat on her, the correct way, and grimaced at the image. She turned it around and smiled faintly at herself. She took the hat off and kept it in her hands, intending on taking it home with her.

She walked outside of his room and looked around for a piece of paper. She could leave him a note. Or she could call him from the cabin phone...but that would be creepy, she figured. Sort of like the way Kirk called from her house because the alarm was going off.

She'd have to go; it would be the wise move. At least she could say she tried.

She walked to the door and left before looking behind herself again. Maybe he'd notice she was there...maybe he wouldn't. Either way, it really didn't matter.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

It was getting late when she finally got back into Stars Hollow. Her plan was to get home, take a cold shower and go to sleep...that is after she put Luke's hat in her box. She pulled up to the stop light near the diner and kept her eyes away from the building like she always does but this time something really caught her eye. Luke was standing outside of the diner. Her Luke. Well, not necessarily hers anymore but her old Luke. Some guy had just walked away from Luke but she couldn't quiet make out who it was. He was heading back towards the diner door but suddenly turned back to his car and opened the passenger's door. It looked like he was looking for something but she couldn't tell because for all she knows, he could be getting ready to leave.

The light turned green and she had no idea what to do. Either see him or not...it wasn't a hard decision.

She went straight and pulled into a parking spot across the street from his car.

He was still in the passengers side, looking threw the contents in the glove box when she walked across the street. Her heart was racing at about 100 MPH as she clutched her hands and walked up to him. It was amazing to see him...nerve wrecking, but amazing none the less.

He pulled out of the car as soon as she walked up to him. The first thing she noticed was his old baseball hat on his head but at the moment, she tried to ignore that. He held his breath as he made the first eye contact he had made with her since they broke up. They both stood there staring for a moment, taking in the awkwardness that was passing threw them both.

"Luke." She said nervously. "Hi."

He shut the car door. "Hi."

"Uh, what-what are you doing here" She asked, still unable to get a grasp on herself.

He put his hands in his pockets, a sign of nervousness. "I had to meet with a guy who's interested in the diner."

Lorelai swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "Oh. So. How...are you?"

"I'm fine, but I have to go now." He started walking around to the other side of the car.

At this point Lorelai knew she had to do something, she just wasn't sure what.

"So is there how we're going to be now? After spending months of being together, we hit one little bump in the road and we can never talk again"

"What's the point, Lorelai? It's not like you care. Because truthfully, it sounded like you could careless when you were saying you love Christopher." He barked.

"What" Lorelai practically jumped. "What the hell are you talking about"

"You know very well what I'm talking about." He got into his car and closed the door.

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about Luke."

He rolled his window down and stared at her for a good long moment.

"Well then that's too damn bad."

Déjà vu. Damn them for being so stubborn.

As he drove away, Lorelai stood there in the street more confused than ever. What did he mean I told Christopher she loves him? She never said she loves-

Her eyes widened. "Oh man." She said out loud, realizing what he was talking about.

But it was too late to run after him because he was already way down the road. All she knew was there was only one way to fix this and it had to be done.

Now the only question is: when will she see him again?

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

Monday at the Inn was hectic. Lorelai got there around 6, prepping up for the party tomorrow night. The party would consist of all the guests staying at the Inn plus all the townies. It would be big, but none the less, very fun.

Sookie was preparing all the food of course. Lorelai was decorating the rooms and getting everything together. Michel was sitting at the front desk doing nothing.

Low on coffee, Lorelai walked into the kitchen to get more coffee.

"Refill time." She poured herself another cup and took a long sip. "You can never get enough of this stuff." She said to Sookie.

"Apparently not." She put down her knife and looked at Lorelai. "Are you okay sweetie? You look tired."

"I love when people say that to me." She said rolling her eyes.

"Oh now come on, I don't mean it in a bad way...I just-it's the truth."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because I really hate to say it but you don't look fine."

"Then how do I look, Sookie" She practically barked.

"Fine if you really want to know, you look sad, emotionally and physically drained, and tired." She said honestly.

"So basically I look like crap"

"Basically. You're still a beautiful person though."

Lorelai sighed and sat in the chair by the table. "Well if it makes you feel any better, I am sad, emotionally and physical drained, and tired."

"I know. How come though? What's been up"

Lorelai hadn't told Sookie much on Luke. She never mentioned that she went to his cabin or that she saw him in front of the diner.

"I...saw Luke."

"What? When?"

"Late last week. He was at the diner...meeting somebody there."

"What happened?"

"With me and Luke?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing. Nothing at all. He was rude and left. He wouldn't let me say much."

Sookie put the knife down yet again. "I thought you said you were over him."

Lorelai almost laughed at how stupid that sounded. Did she actually say that?

She looked into her coffee cup. "I...lied." She said ever so softly.

"What" Sookie said not hearing her.

"I lied, okay?"

"About being over him?"

"Yes Sookie." Lorelai said, exasperated.

"It's been a while though."

"You don't just get over somebody so quickly you know? Maybe you do...I don't though." She said in all honesty. "Sookie...I...I really _liked_ Luke."

It sounded very childish but it was the...truth. "I really did."

Sookie caught on to what she was trying to say. "I understand."

"It's just...he left, you know? And I just saw him after weeks of being in zero contact with him and it was just...weird."

"I know what you mean."

"I mean, I guess I couldn't imagine him wanting to be friends." She laughed pathetically. "Obviously that was too much to ask for but...I understand. If that's how he wants things to be between us, non existent, then fine...I don't care."

"Oh honey don't say that. You do care."

"Yeah well, I care. A lot. But there's nothing I can do about that."

"Go home...get some sleep."

Lorelai hoped out of her chair and straightened out her skirt. "Can't. I've got loads of work for the party tomorrow."

Sookie rolled her eyes as Lorelai walked out of the kitchen.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

As Luke was watching TV that same day, his cell phone started vibrating on the table. Apprehensively, he picked it up.

"Hello" He answered, turning down the TV.

"Luke? It's Sam."

"Oh, how ya doin' Sam"

"Doing well, Luke. I just wanted to make sure we were still on for tomorrow night. I'm bringing the wife. She wants to meet you."

"Oh well...uh, I guess so."

"Great. I just wanted to say that I'll meet you there. I was going to offer to meet you at the diner before hand but I have to drive my kid to soccer practice before that and I'll probably be a few minutes late."

"Oh well that's okay. I'll see you there then."

"See you there."

He hung up his phone and rolled his eyes. Tomorrow would definitely be a crappy day, he thought to himself.

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

The theme was most certainly, a winter one, and the setting looked beautiful. Lorelai had spent most of her day and night preparing for the party, from making decorations, to picking the right candlesticks and holders. There was a lot of white through out the room, different shades, but they all went well with the decor. There was some sort of pixie dust strewn across the tables acting as snowflakes. It really did look nice.

It was close to 7:00 when people began flooding in the Inn. The guests from their rooms had already come down by the time the townies had arrived. The kitchen smelt great, the food looked great, and Lorelai believe it or not, was feeling great.

She tried very hard not to think of Luke. Of all the nights she thought about him, this was the one night she wanted to keep him off her mind the most. Distractions would screw things up and the thought of that extra load of frustration showed no interest to her.

"Sookie" Lorelai called when she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey chickadee! All ready?"

"Yeah, everyone's arriving right about now. Is everything set food-wise?"

"Everything's set."

"Good. So, let's just go over this one more time."

"Go."

"Arrive, mingle" She playfully bumped Sookie in the hips.

"You mean get drunk." Sookie said laughing. "Even though I'll be left out of that category."

"Likewise. I don't know how professional it'd be for the host to be hitting on every person here."

"Which, you probably would."

"Probably." She giggled. "Back to the agenda, arrive, mingle, dinner, sleigh rides, movie time, badabing, badaboom"

"Sounds perfect. I'm so excited for the sleigh rides again. They were so much fun at the brace bridge dinner."

"They definitely were. Anyways, ready to go make our appearance" She said holding out her hand.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

They walked out of the kitchen and into the main room where everybody was settling in, already munching on appetizers.

"You can start." Sookie offered.

Lorelai nodded and looked at the crowd. "Attention, attention, attention please" Lorelai said loudly.

As the crowd grew silent, she smiled and waited for Sookie's nod of approval before beginning.

"First, we'd like to start off with thanking you for all coming! It means a lot to us that you could be here with us."

The crowd mumbled different things, some clapping, some not.

"We've got a whole agenda for you guys planned out so don't worry about not having something to do. We're going to have dinner in about 20-25 minutes and then we'll"

At that point, Lorelai heard the front door close and averted her eyes to the person who walked in.

It was _him._

Nobody else turned around. They were all too fascinated by the way Lorelai's eyes grew larger and the way her jaw dropped slightly. She forgot what she was in the middle of saying and no control of speaking again. She washed away the silly look and smiled lightly, mostly in his direction. She hadn't expected him to come here. The thought never really crossed her mind. It wasn't like she had been anticipating his possible appearance all night.

"Then we'll-uh, we'll..."

"We'll what, sweetie" Patty asked.

Lorelai laughed lightly and shook her head, not looking in Luke's direction anymore.

"Sorry, we'll...have a good time tonight. And...here's Sookie."

Lorelai stepped away and rubbed her head with her hands for a moment.

"Have a good time everyone!" Sookie cheered. "And, I swear if you smother my food in too much salt I will get my spoon and shove it up your-"

"Anddd that's enough pregnancy hormone jokes for you all tonight. Have fun!" Lorelai said interrupting Sookie.

She grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Luke's here." She said in a calm, collected voice.

"I saw him."

"I just..." Lorelai was lost at words.

"Just...go out there and have fun. I'll see you later."

"Okay."

If playing it cool was going to be the goal she had in mind, she was going to try her hardest to keep that goal alive.

Luke was in the back still talking with Sam enjoying a beer. He caught glances of Lorelai as she occasionally walked near his direction or somewhere relatively around him. She was busy talking to all the guests. All of them but him.

By the time dinner had started about 20 minutes later, she still had no contact with him. Not even a look in his eyes. He watched her but saw no effort in trying to make contact. The whole time, she had been successfully avoiding him like her mind told her to do. He tried not to care, or even notice that just about every person in the Inn-with the exception of Lorelai-was talking about him.

Patty and Babette both approached him, different times, but bottom line is that they did. He gave out as little details as he could without being slaughtered. While he noticed that Lorelai wasn't paying attention to him, he thought of possible reasons why. Maybe it was because she was busy or maybe because she didn't want to speak to him, but either way he was upset because he came tonight with thought of actually talking to her. Maybe they wouldn't necessarily make up, but he wanted to talk to her because seeing her in front of the diner the other day (after being a complete jerk to her) he realized how much he really missed her.

But maybe making up would be too much, too soon. Because if that's all they had to do, it would have happened, months ago. But before anything else, they had to talk about things. A lot of things. And on top of that, he wasn't going to apologize because watching her right now really made him realize that she's hurting and he hates too think that there's a possibility that over the past few months, she might have been hurting just as much as he has been.

He never imagined that two people could feel that much pain from one another. He never has such strong feelings to crush. But he did now and there was nothing he could do about it.

There were around 25-30 people at the Inn. They all sat down, 2 tables full of people and began eating. It took Lorelai a while before she could actually sit down and enjoy herself because along with Sookie, she was worrying about everything being perfect.

Luke sat next to Sam and the same table Lorelai sat at. They sat across and diagonally from each other. Every few minutes, they'd make shy eye contact but look away before it got to awkward. A smile never really passed between the two of them, just sort of a look. Not a good one, but not a bad one either. It was just...a look. He noticed she didn't look her cheery self. She didn't smile as much and her laugh was different. It wasn't as loud and contagious as it used to be.

She noticed that he hadn't shaved in a while. His eyes looked somewhat swollen, as if he hadn't been getting enough sleep lately but she realized he probably hadn't. He still looked good though.

And she still looked breath taking as she showed herself off in her black cocktail dress.

They all ate in peace, enjoying the food and having several individual conversations.

After dinner was over, the two tables rejoiced for a small meeting in the main room yet again. Lorelai announced that the sleigh rides would start soon. Everybody flew out of the Inn, waiting patiently in line for the horses to come.

"You outdid yourself." Rory said walking up to her mom who was helping Sookie clear the plates off the two tables.

"Oh hey sweetie. Having fun?"

"Of course. Everything's been great so far."

"Good, I'm glad."

They walked into the kitchen to drop of the remained plates and walked back into the main room.

"Hey mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai said, looking up from outside the window.

"Are you okay? You seem, I don't know, distracted."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking though."

"I just know that...you know, Luke's here."

"Yeah he is." Lorelai said casually.

"Did you talk to him?"

"No, and I'm not sure we will babe. Unless, I don't know, he wants too but, that'd be silly. I know he doesn't want to." She said dismissing the possibility because she thought it sounded stupid.

"That's not stupid. I think you guys really need to talk. I'm sick of seeing you guys like this."

"Yeah, well...hey, go outside and check on the rides will you? I'm going to help Sookie finish up."

"Yeah, okay." Rory said reluctantly.

After finishing up with the kitchen work, Lorelai excused herself outside to check on everything. Everybody seemed happy and satisfied which made Lorelai happy.

She looked around for Luke but realized that he wasn't around. Maybe he left? She thought. She hoped he didn't though because something was nagging her in her stomach when she thought about him. It wasn't the normal butterflies she got when she thought of him, it was something different. Something more knowing. As if something could actually happen.

Around the time that everybody was finished and settled back inside, Lorelai noticed Luke slip in threw the front door. She was secretly relieved he was still there.

Everybody got settled in the main room to watch the Christmas movie Kirk insisted on selecting. Lorelai was in the back, fidgeting with the lights as Kirk rummaged around the front looking for the tape.

He caught glance of the tape resting in Lorelai's big black bag. He pulled it out and sighed to himself. "Of course she'd try and hide the movie from me."

He took the tape out of her purse and put it in the VCR.

"Lights, Lorelai." Kirk called out.

She nodded her head and turned the lights out.

The screen was blank for a few seconds until noise fled from the speakers but there was still no picture.

"How do you turn the stupid camera part of this on" Lorelai's voice poured from the speakers.

"Oh my god!" She screamed and got up from her seat next to Rory when she realized that Kirk put in the wrong tape. "Kirk press stop! That's not the right movie"

Kirk refused and kept it playing as Lorelai got up started walking towards the front of the room but Rory pulled her down in her seat and kept a hold on her so she wouldn't leave again.

"Mom, stay. Let it play."

Lorelai bit her lip and tried getting out of Rory's grasp but it wouldn't work.

"Just...let it play." Rory assured her yet again.

* * *

**December 7th**

"I see that the Stars Hollow post office hired you again, huh Kirk?"

"Yes they did, Lorelai. Let me just get my things straightened out and I can give you your mail even though it's against the rules to hand out mail to the non-owner."

"Well why the hell would you give me somebody else's mail?"

"Because I can't drive out to Yale. It's not on my route."

"Well if it's for Rory, it's a different story."

"Alright but if you get me fired..."

"Then I'll quit drinking coffee, right, right, come on, can I have my mail already? It's cold outside."

"Here you go." Kirk handed her bulk of mail and walked away as Lorelai slipped back inside.

She sat on the couch and tossed the few bills to the side, glanced at the covers of a couple of magazines, and placed Rory's mail on the side.

The end of the pile was a thick envelope addressed to Lorelai. Without even looking at the return address, she eagerly ripped open the envelope.

She emptied the contents on her lap and the first thing that caught her eye was a piece of paper folded in a small square. She unfolded it and read the contents inside.

_Dear Lorelai,  
I sent both you and Luke copies of the pictures that I took of you guys. They came out really great. I hope you enjoy them and can put them to good use. Stay in touch and take care.  
Rachel_

Lorelai threw the note to the side and took the pictures in her hand, flipping them over one by one.

The first picture was the one of them in the snow. Lorelai's heart sank and stomach dropped when she saw how happy they were, even if they were pretending. Pretending to be a couple that is because they both really were happy. Especially compared to now. She sighed and examined it for a few more seconds before moving on to the next one.

The second was the first picture that they took when Luke had his arms around her waist and Lorelai had hers arms were around his neck. She bit her lip, trying to stay as strong as possible but seeing these pictures...it really hurt.

The last one was mainly of just Lorelai. The one where in reality, they had just made up. She smiled at him, a unique smile she only used with certain people at certain times. She gripped tightly onto the picture as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

The fact that she was crying over a few pictures made her feel pathetic. But she rarely felt pathetic so this meant something to her. She picked up the phone and dialed Rory's phone number.

"Rory?" She asked when Rory finally answered a few rings later. She heard crying in the background.

"Hi mom, hold on." Rory took the phone away from her ear but Lorelai could still hear her. "Here, dad, take Gigi, moms on the phone...yeah, go give her a bottle or something."

"Sorry, mom?"

"Yeah, it's me." Lorelai said quietly.

"What's the matter? You don't sound very good."

"I...I need you to come home."

"I would but I can't right now. I'm at dads helping with Gigi and I don't have a car."

"Take his then."

"You honestly want me to drive a Honda?"

"I need you to come home." She repeated.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's okay. Just, take my word on this: drive the Volvo."

"I'll be there in a little bit." She said quickly and hung up the phone.

She explained to her dad that she needed to leave because Lorelai needed her to come home for a little while. She promised to bring the car back right after she finished whatever it was she was beginning at home.

A little less than an hour later, she pulled into her driveway right behind the jeep. She rushed out of the car and entered the house in frenzy.

"Mom? Are you here?"

Lorelai was sitting on the couch, fiddling with a video camera.

"Where the hell did we get that?"

"It's Sookie's. I borrowed it last week and never gave it back."

"Thief."

"Yeah, well."

"What's the matter?"

She looked up from the camera and handed Rory the pictures of her and Luke. She went through them all, including the note on the top and handed them back to her mom.

"Those are nice pictures."

"Rory I miss him so much." She admitted.

"I know you do mom."

"I need to...do something about it."

"I thought you said you didn't want to."

"Well I didn't but I have to. Rory...I think I love him." She admitted and the words sounded cold and foreign to her. She had never said she loved anyone really. At least she's never said it and meant it.

But she figured she does and if she doesn't feel comfortable saying it before she tells him for the first time, it'd probably sound really bad.

"I'm glad you finally admitted it mom." Rory said honestly, not messing around with her at all. "But I'm not sure I understand what the video tape is for."

"I'm going to practice." Lorelai said standing up and adjusting the video camera. "You're...the director."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"Okay..."

"Great, let's go."

"You want to do this now"? Rory asked surprised.

"No I want to do it when Luke moves to Africa-yes I want to do it now!"

"Okay well, uh..."

"Well the little red lights on, but I don't think its working."

Lorelai hit a button and another red light went off. "Can you see me" She asked.

Rory looked into the camera but didn't see anything. "Nope."

"How do you turn the stupid camera part of this on" She pressed another button and her face appeared to Rory.

"Okay its working."

"Okay."

Lorelai sat there for a few seconds, not doing anything. Becoming annoyed, Rory looked up.

"Well are you going to start?"

"I don't know what to say."

"Say you-"

"I know what to say, but...I don't know how to begin."

"Well good thing this is a practice tape. It's not like he'll ever see this anyways."

"I know, I know. It's just weird talking to a video tape...especially with you here."

Rory played offended. "Fine, I'll leave then if you want to be by yourself."

"No, no, no. Don't go."

"Okay then start your speech."

"Alright. Here I go." She took a deep breath, folding her hands and looking into the camera.

"Luke-wait, I don't think I should start this whole thing addressing it to him, should I"

"It doesn't matter. Once you get started you'll get the hang of it."

Lorelai ignored Rory's comment and looked into the camera again.

"You know, when I was a kid my parents gave me a doll house with the seal still on it. I could never really play with the dolls, let alone go near the house because my parents were always afraid that I'd break it and if I broke the doll house I'd ruin their happiness. So I always stayed away from it because I didn't want to 'break their happiness.' And, don't get me wrong, it's not like I would have enjoyed playing with those stupid dolls because...well, because truthfully, I wouldn't have, but it would have been different, and I never really experienced different when I was growing up."

She took a long breath and looked at Rory who smiled at her, persuading her to continue.

"And you see...I don't know if you can tell but after that, I always shielded myself from things because I was always scared I'd break them. And you know...don't get me wrong. I don't blame my parents for me being the way I am around people, because they were only the start of the way I am today. But I do admit, maybe if I could have played will my doll's, I would have actually grown up a little different. And of course I don't mean it in a complete literal way, that if I could play with Cindy Lou or Debbie Do or whatever the hell their names were, I would be happier, but if I could have just experienced more and opened myself up more it would have been better."

She paused, thinking about the next thing she wanted to say. She knew she'd have to get off this doll house theory if she ever wanted to move on and get to the point.

"A lot of people know that I'm not the best in relationships." She said seriously. "I tend to screw things up right when they're getting good. And I regret hurting people I cared about because I was too scared to open myself up completely. I always enjoyed relationships I was in but...I was never ready for the next step. I enjoyed having a person to hang out with when Rory went out with her friends and occasionally dressing up and having somebody take me out. I had fun doing that sort of stuff. But I never allowed it to be much more than fun. You know, I'd get scared when things seemed to at least...to me...start to heat up. After a while of things going good, I just sort of back away and make up silly excuses when in reality, I was never willing to give it a shot in the first place. And who knows, maybe giving it a shot wasn't the right thing at the time-then again, I'd be contradicting this whole speech wouldn't I be?" She asked Rory who nodded her head. "Like I was saying, maybe it wasn't the right time...but then again, maybe it was. But, I'll never know because I was always too scared to take that next step." She looked at Rory, "I'm still making sense right?" Rory laughed and nodded her head even though it seemed a little confusing, but if she thought about it real hard, she knew what she was talking about.

"So, you see Luke, when things between you and I started getting more and more serious, when I found myself sleeping at your house, or you sleeping at my house just about every night, a little thing went off in either my head...or call me a romantic" she said batting her eyelashes, "in my heart. It could have been the 2 month mark that Sookie insists I have, or it could have been something else...I don't know, but it was something. And it went off. And I'm being awfully redundant."

"And repetitive." Rory whispered, laughing in the background.

"I realized that things were different with you. You made me happy, you made me smile, you made me laugh, you made me feel...warm, as corny as that sounds, but it's the truth. And most of all, when I was with you, I felt like for a change, somebody really did love me."

She bit her lip and looked around the room before continuing.

"And, I know that the town has said you've been 'madly in love with me,'" she used air quotes "for all these years, but I don't know if that's true at all. All I know is that I felt loved and I really liked that feeling, that happiness. I liked it because it was so unknown to me. I had never felt it before either because I never allowed myself to feel it, like I said before, or because none of the other guys have actually loved me despise what they said. And I'm not here to put words in your mouth, because I don't know if you love me, but...upon experiencing these new feelings...I realized I'm not going to let them escape this time because for the first time in my life...I've found myself in love."

She couldn't help but return the beaming smile Rory was sending her.

"I'm in love with you." she said simply. She laughed a little, sniffling and wiping the few tears away from the corners of her eyes. "Look at me, I'm a mess. And I probably sound like a freak, but that's what you do to me. You make me a freak and I love you for that. There are a million things I could say I love about you right now but since you'll never see this, I think it'll be good to save them for the actual time that I tell you I love you because, there, I've said it-more than once, too-I love you."

She wiped a few more tears from her eyes. "I've said it and I feel good. I feel, relieved. Like I've wanted to tell you that for years...but those years were long and now that it's out, I couldn't be any happier."

"So, if for some reason one day, you...think I'm not 'all in' like I told you I was on our first date, I'll reassure you with this tape. Other than that, this is confidential, sister." She nodded to Rory. "It's been fun, and real, and almost like you're actually sitting in front of me watching me say all this, but I know you're not and hey-I hate to say it but part of me is upset because my first time ever saying I love you to somebody and really meaning it was to a video tape and not you, yourself. So, I guess I'll just have to wait and tell you this in person sometime. And...I just hope it's sometime soon."

She walked over to the table and grabbed a Kleenex to blow her nose.

"I'm done." She said laughing to Rory.

"Come here mom." Rory said, opening her arms.

Lorelai walked over towards Rory but bumped into a shoe and tripped. "Ouch!" She grabbed her foot and wobbled over to Rory.

She lost her balance and the camera fell from the stand and turned itself off.

* * *

As the video came to an end, just about everybody in the crowd-especially the people that really know Luke and Lorelai all had tears in their eyes. Including Lorelai. Oh, and Kirk who at this point was having trouble turning it off.

Rory finally let go of her mom and turned give her a hug.

"You were so happy to see that and you wanted him to hear it so badly. I just...I thought that Kirk should let it play."

"It's okay, really. You don't need to apologize. I brought it today intending on giving it to Luke anyways. There were some things we needed to clear up."

"Speaking of Luke..." Rory turned around and glanced at him. He was standing against the wall.

Lorelai turned around smiled, wiping underneath her eyes. He smiled, very, very lightly, and she turned back around.

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"I want to but everyone's still here."

"Not for long."

Rory stood up and attempted to whistle but it didn't really work.

"Okay guys" Rory screamed. "That concludes the party for tonight so if you could all just depart through the front door, that'd be great. Thanks for coming!"

Rory guided a few people out of the door while Lorelai just laughed at her, still sitting in her chair. As just about everybody flooded out, Lorelai turned around to see Luke. But, like before, he was gone.

She started to panic. She had only been sitting there for 5 minutes. Sure almost everybody was out in that time, due to Rory's enforcement, but she wouldn't let Luke slip out would she?

She walked out to the front room and nobody was there, she opened the door, and there he was, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night.

She left the door open and walked over to him, leaning against the railing herself but keeping distance between them. They both stared out into the night and it wasn't till Luke felt her staring at him that he turned towards her.

He turned towards her and she reached her fingers out to graze his hands but pulled away, afraid that he'd turn her down. She put her hands on her hips and kept a steady face with him. He showed no emotion, so it was hard for her to tell what he was thinking. But obviously whatever he was thinking was good because he reached over and removed her hands from her hips, lacing her fingers within his.

She averted her eyes to the door and looked back at him. He traced her eyes and new exactly what she meant. He followed her lead as she led him into the Inn. She removed one hand from his and closed the door softly, then taking his hand again and walking him up the stairs.

_Lucky Room 7._

She grabbed the master key and opened the empty room, waiting for him to step inside first. She closed the door and turned on the lamp on the table but that was just about all the light they had on. She bit her lip, afraid she'd suddenly cry and made agreeing eye contact with him. She took her distance and tried to make it unobvious that all she wanted to do right now was be in his arms.

Something about him though, could read right threw her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held onto her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his upper waist and hugged him tighter than intended. She aligned her head perfectly near his neck, inhaling the smell of him. The tip of her nose brushed against his neck causing him to shiver slightly, resulting in him tightening his grip around her waist.

They held each other for a good few minutes, neither one wanting to break this moment.

But after a while, she pulled away and led him over to the bed.

"I don't know what to say." She admitted quietly. It was almost nerve wrecking hearing her voice.

"You don't have to say anything. Not right now at least."

She leaned in very slowly, raising her hand and cupping his face. She looked him in the eyes before kissing him so lightly he hardly noticed her lips were on his. She felt he'd back away if she was too forward, too quickly. But the electricity flowing threw them was intense and he needed more. He put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her in closer, kissing her with more passion this time.

"I'm sorry Luke. I'm really sorry for everything." She said pulling away, praying she wouldn't cry but a few tears slipped because being with him right now was way to intense. She never imagined being with him again could ever be this intense.

He lifted his thumb and wiped away her tears, smiling. "Don't cry." He cracked a larger smile for her. "I understand...and I forgive you for it. I really do." He assured her.

"I just...I missed you so much."

He hugged her again; the feeling of her against him was all he needed at the moment. "You have no idea." He said shaking his head and rubbing her back.

"I do know."

He kissed the top of her head and she pulled away, standing up and fixing her running makeup in the mirror hanging on the wall. He got up and wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at the two of them in the mirror.

"We make a good couple don't we?" He said smiling.

"Yes. We make a good _couple."_ She said laughing and sniffing a little.

"Here-let's lie down. I need to lie down."

They both laid on their sides, facing each other. Lorelai grabbed Luke's hands and played with them before speaking.

"I was going to give you that tape tonight. It hit me a few minutes after you left the other day what you were talking about. How I said I love you to somebody. You heard me on the tape. And...Rory took Christopher's car because she was helping him out. I wanted you to know that before I told you anything else."

"So it was just me arriving at the wrong time"

She smiled. "Yes."

"But how did you know I was going to be here tonight"

"You'd be surprised..."

"Why?"

She leaned over and kissed him softly, yet longingly on the lips.

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"I promise I won't be mad."

"I hired Sam."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked him if he'd help me figure out where you were. So I asked him to call your cell phone and tell you that he's interested in the diner because I wanted you to come home. And, ever since then, it's just been working, and...Thank God it has or else I don't know where you and I would stand right now."

Luke laughed; surprised about Sam but right now he could absolutely care less. "I'm glad you did that."

"I'm glad I did too."

"Good."

"Listen, Luke." She said up and crossed her legs. He stayed on his side and caressed her leg.

"I screwed things up really badly between you and I-"

"Lorelai, we don't have to get into this now."

"I know. And we won't. I just want to say something."

"Okay."

"I really screwed things up between us and I'm sorry for that. I really am. And it all started with Christopher. There. I admitted it. You were right. And, I know you were right. I knew you were right all along but I didn't want to admit it because I knew you'd be mad."

"Yeah..."

"But if I would have ever known you'd be that mad at me, and just...leave...I would have been honest with you before any of that could have happened. Because, being without with you has been the hardest few weeks of my life. And that might sound very dramatic, but I'm not kidding. That's the truth."

"I believe you."

"I would never do something to hurt you again because I love you too much to see you walk away from me again."

Tears started welling up in her eyes again. "Because" she chocked"you have no idea how much I missed you."

"I missed you too, Lorelai."

"So, if there were ever to be a 'next time' even though I'm one hundred percent sure nothing remotely that bad will ever happen again, I'm not going to lie, or pretend not to admit something I know is right. Because I don't want to lose you. I really don't, Luke." The tears started rolling down her cheeks. Luke sat up and tried soothing her.

"Hey, shh...it's okay." He wrapped her in his arms and lowered her onto the bed, still hugging her.

He kissed the top of her forehead and smoothed her hair. "I love you, Lorelai. I'm not going to leave you again. You don't have to worry about that."

She looked up at him and smiled.

"You love me?"

"Like that's a surprise?"

"Too me it is. I've never heard you say it before."

"Sure you have." He kissed her on her neck and looked back up to her. "You've always just been sleeping."

She smiled and cupped his face in her hands, examining everything about him.

She kissed him again, pulling away a few seconds later but keeping her face pressed against his.

"Make love to me Luke." She whispered against his lips, eyes closed.

He gently rolled on top of her, kissing her before getting up and holding his hands out for hers. He lifted her from the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her passionately. Her fingers traveled from his head to his neck to this seams of his tee-shirt. His hands brushed against her partially exposed stomach causing her to jump slightly, only to be further in his arms.

He pulled away from her and slowly unbuttoned her cardigan. With the last final button, he pushed it off her shoulders and kissed her again, traveling from her lips to her cheek, to her neck. Pure bliss, she was experiencing. She let out a strangled moan she had been holding back the whole time.

Luke looked back up at her and put his fingers on the straps of her light pink tank. He put his thumbs underneath the straps and pulled them down before lifting the material over her head and tossing it on the floor as well.

He wrapped his hands around her bare stomach and kissed her gently before moving his hands down to the zipper of her black pants. He unzipped them slowly, pulling the tight fabric off of her legs. Freezing at his touch, she quickened the pace so she could warm up. He held her low on her waist while she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, taking it off and throwing it on the floor with her clothes. She reached for his belt buckle, took that off and then unzipped his pants, pulling them off from him.

She leaned back and started pushing him down against the bed but in one swift move, he turned around so he was walking backwards towards the bed and lowered her on top of him. Gently but surely, he laid her beneath him, lying on top of her, careful not to hurt her at all.

His head was in the air, looking at the clock on the mantle about their bed. Growing anxious, Lorelai lifted her head up, capturing his lips and kissing him passionately. She wrapped her hands around the back of his face, lowering him onto her lips as her head crashed against the pillows.

"I love you, she kissed him again, "Luke."

He pulled away and smiled, leaning down and rubbing her cheek with his hand. "I love you, Lorelai."

With one final kiss, they broke away and undressed the rest of themselves in preparation for a night they have been waiting for...probably, for months.

They wouldn't need a Making Love Book for Dummies, that's for sure.

_­x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

Over 45 minutes later, they collapsed beside each other. Lorelai laid half way on top of him as he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her securely. Her face was against his neck, kissing him every few seconds.

"They're definitely right about make up sex being better." She said laughing into his neck.

"Definitely."

She raised her head and looked into his eyes. "Have I told you how much I missed you?"

"Yes. And the feeling's mutual."

"So, what are you going to do now? Go back to the cabin?"

"How did you know I was at the cabin"

"Well, I guessed. And then I decided to go see you...there...but you weren't home."

"So what did you do"

"I went into your cabin" She asked even though she knew she did.

"You know, you could have been caught."

"So what? I'm your girlfriend."

"Yeah well I guess its okay then. And to answer your question, I'm going to go back home. Don't worry."

"Home, home? As in the apartment? Not the cabin" She said excitedly.

"Yes."

"So does that mean...I don't know...maybe...the diner will be opening again soon?"

"Yes, that's a high possibility."

"Yay" She clapped and kissed him on the lips. "I've had such a withdrawal."

"From me?" He joked.

"And the coffee." She had to admit it.

They stayed there for a few minutes, both lost in thought. Being together, the way they were right now, was absolutely perfect. Nothing could be better than this night.

"What did you do while you were gone?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing. I thought about you a good majority of the time."

"Were you ever going to call"

"Eventually. I just didn't know when. I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me."

"You figured wrong. I really wanted to hear from you."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. If anyone has something to be sorry about, it's still me."

"Hey, we talked about things, we realized what it's like to be apart from each other when something bad happens, we learned. I believe you Lorelai, I really do."

"I'm glad that you trust me."

"Good." She leaned into him, tangling her legs within his.

"What did you do while I was gone?" He asked.

"I was a wreck." She said honestly. "I really was a wreck."

He kissed her softly. "I didn't want you to be a wreck."

"I didn't want to be one either. But I was, and after all, I probably deserved it."

"You made a mistake with Christopher, it's over, it's done, and we're over it. There's no reason to put it on yourself any longer."

"I won't then."

"Good."

"I just...I was bad. I hardly talked to anyone, I didn't have anything to do with myself other than sit on my ass and feel sorry for myself. That's not very fun."

"No. It's not."

"I thought about you everyday. I even had a few dreams about you, and us one day making up."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But this was way better than any of my dreams."

"I'm glad." He said smiling proudly.

"Luke?"

"Yeah."

"Were you really going to let Sam 'buy the diner?'"

"No." He said quickly. "I just...I went along with it because I knew I'd wind up seeing you at some point in the process."

"Good boy." She said jokingly.

She leaned over him and adjusted the clock on his side of the bed because it was faced in the wrong direction. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she lifted herself up and looked at the clock.

"It's getting late."

"What time is it."

"11:57."

"Happy anniversary, Luke."

"It's our anniversary?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"For three more minutes, it is."

"Happy anniversary, Lorelai."

He counted the days in his head, figuratively speaking, it was their old anniversary, and today, was the start of a new one: the 23rd.

Luke nodded and Lorelai laid back down watching the minutes pass on the clock. When the clock read 12:00, she leaned up to Luke's face and kissed him.

"Merry Christmas Eve."

He laughed. "Lots of occasions, huh"

"Yes."

"Well Merry Christmas Eve, Lorelai." He raised his hand to her head and kissed her passionately. He pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"I love you so much." He said full-fledged.

The heat in her cheeks rose causing her to blush and close her eyes.

"I love hearing you say that." She grinned and opened her eyes again. "And I love saying it too. It sounds so right."

"It is right."

"I know. And for the first time in my life, too." She laughed a little. "Gosh, we probably sound so dopey."

"Whatever that's supposed to mean..." Luke replied.

"Yeah," she kissed him one more time, "whatever that means."

They were both quiet for a few more minutes until Lorelai spoke again.

"Hey Luke?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you think...if Kirk didn't interrupt us the night that we would have ended up here?" She asked referring to their current state, though talking about their kiss on the porch of the test run.

Luke kissed the top of her head.

"Do you think if Kirk wouldn't have switched the movies tonight that we would have ended up here?" He asked in return.

She smiled and adjusted her head in the crook of his shoulder.

"There was no stopping me tonight."

* * *

**AN:** It's over:( It only took us eight weeks to get here…(xoxo Annick)

Please review thanks for _everything!_


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